good morning. breaking news. japan's nuclear crisis takes a dire turn. high levels of radiation spewing from the damaged nuclear plant following an explosion at a third reactor and a fire in a fourth. a company official calls it a very bad scenario, and the new concerns have the dow plummeting sharply today, tuesday, march concerns have the dow plummeting sharply today, tuesday, march 15th, 2011. captions paid for by nbc-universal television

welcome to "today" on this tuesday morning. i'm meredith vieira. >> i'm matt lauer, there doesn't seem to be any more question about it. officials in japan are saying the radiation leaking from the crippled nuclear power plant is enough to impact human health. >> the biggest concern right now is the number 2 reactor which exploded on monday sending more radiation into the air and then a fire at reactor 4 broke out. that reactor had been shut down for maintenance before the quake. all but 50 employees of the plant have been evacuated. in a nationally televised address japan's prime minister urged anyone living near the plant who had not already evacuated to seal themselves indoors. he also warned of the very high high risk of more leaks. >> you hear the story and i think about the bravery of the 50 people who remain at the power plant, trying to cool those reactors, at great personal risk. >> at some point you wonder if they will have to leave as well, and then what?

>> >> what's the outcome of that? >> in tokyo, slightly elevated radiation levels have been detected. we're going to get the latest on what is obviously an extremely tense situation, and that's straight ahead. >> there is a rare piece of good news. rescuers found a 70-year-old woman alive in her home four days after it was swept away by the tsunami. ann curry is live in japan with details, as well as a closer look at the toll this crisis is taking on people there. let's begin on this tuesday morning with the nuclear crisis. nbc's chief science correspondent robert bazzell is in tokyo. robert, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, matt. as you've been saying, the nuclear crisis in japan has taken a turn for the worse. many people are saying it's simply ominous. that explosion in reactor number 4 blew a hole in the cement containment facility allowing a lot of radiation to leak, and the fire in the other reactor is allowing some radiation to get out.

there are several reactors at the fukushima site. one of them, an explosion monday brought on the breach in the metal and cement dome that's designed to contain radiation. so far the metal cylinder has not broken but radiation is escaping. >> the danger seems to have significantly increased over the past couple of days. >> reporter: the japanese prime minister naoto kan urged calm, and said the radiation wasn't a widespread hazard and there was no need to evacuate beyond the 12 miles already established. those leaving have been checked for radiation. the company that runs the reactors ordered all but the most essential personnel to leave the site and offered public apologies. >> translator: this is a very poor, very bad scenario. >> reporter: already explosions at two of the other reactors destroyed the outside nonessential structures. satellite photos before and after show the damage.

the fire that broke out earlier today is at a reactor that was shut down for maintenance before the earthquake and was not releasing large quantities of radiation. experts agree the total amount of radiation is not yet a significant health hazard beyond the area of the reactor. >> the amount of radiation that's likely to be released is going to be relatively small compared to an accident like chernobyl. >> reporter: it's not chernobyl for sure, but it's far worse than three mile island, making it the second worst nuclear disaster at a power planned in history, and the end is nowhere in sight, matt. >> bob, we mentioned that tokyo is 170 miles south of the power plant. and yet i understand there is -- maybe "chaos" is too strong of a word, but there are a lot of people who are uneasy in tokyo trying to get out of the country any way they can. is that correct? are you seeing that? >> reporter: yes, we have. mostly, of course, foreigners trying to get out.

people aren't leaving tokyo who live here, because nobody is saying the radiation levels are posing a threat at this time. but i think a lot of foreigners who are here and have the option of getting out are looking at this and saying, well, it's not so bad right now. there has not been this catastrophic leak of radiation everybody fears but let's not wait around for that to happen. because if that did happen, then nobody's going to get out of anywhere. i think that's the mentality driving a lot of people to book flights and trains to get as far as from here as they can. >> robert bazell in tokyo, thank you very much. how will the winds impact where the radiation coming from the power plant will go? al roker is upstairs with more on that. al, good morning to you. >> good morning, matt. right now the news is good. winds are out of the east-southeast blowing across the country into the ocean. sendai, light rain and mist. temperature 40, southeasterly winds at 7. tokyo, cloudy now.

temperature 51, but z as we move into tomorrow and, in fact, it's overnight there now, the winds continue out of the northwest. again, more good news. temperatures in the low 40s to low 50s when you go from north to south, and as we move into thursday, again the winds continue across the country, and out into the ocean. a gusty westerly wind, temperatures 48 degrees in tokyo. 41 with a gusty wind for sendai. again, a lot of people have been calling and asking about ann and where she is. she is again in this fishing coastal fishing village. the nuclear facility is to the south. with the winds blowing across the country again for folks in that devastated coastal town that's good news as far as radiation leaks. meredith? >> all right, al, thank you very much. edward limon is from the union of concerned scientists. former president of the nuclear control institute. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> it seems every morning we

wake up and the news from japan is more alarming. now a report of a third explosion at the nuclear plant, this one considered more serious than the previous two. why is that? >> well, in this case it's believed that the steel part of the containment vessel that surrounds the reactor vessel has been damaged. this is the first time that there's been a breach in that particular containment whose primary function is to keep radioactive material from escaping. so if there is further damage to the core of the reactor then there is an increased chance that there will be a much larger release of radioactivity in the next few days. >> they are already saying that radiation is notice leaking at levels that are a threat to human health. how much radiation are we talking about at this point? can you put it in terms we can understand? >> yes. radiation levels increased to 1 million times background levels. at that rate someone standing at

the fence for two hours would start to experience the symptoms of acute radiation syndrome, which is a very severe and potentially life-threatening illness. even if they were to leave before absorbing a lethal amount of radiation, they would have a significantly increased risk of cancer. >> they have told people within a 19-mile radius to stay indoors to avoid exposure. is that radius good enough in your estimation? >> i don't believe it will be good enough if the accident continues to develop. it's not clear that sheltering in place is always an effective measure. it depends on the type of structure, how leak-tight it is, how thick the walls are. i'm not sure that's an appropriate measure for the long-term should the accident get worse. >> meanwhile there are only 50 workers left in the plant. how much longer can they stay there and what happens when they leave? they are responsible for keeping

the fuel cool. >> yes, this is a huge concern. it is possible that the accident gets worse radiation levels will make it uninhabitable inside the reactor. then there will have to be difficult decisions to be made whether to keep personnel increasingly in harm's way. this is one of the greatest flaws, i think, of the nuclear power today, is the expectation that there will be workers who will be heroic enough to possibly sacrifice their lives in an event like this. that's a terrible choice to make. >> what happens if they leave? >> well, there are things that have to be done manually to continue to operate the plant safely. i simply don't know if it were completely unattended if it could be kept in a stable state. >> from what you have heard, seen and read so far, do you

believe the engineers will be able to keep the situation under control? >> i think that's still a significant question. there is an indication that they may not be able to control the reactor in the long term. right now, they are using stop-gap measures, desperate measures to keep what's left of the core that hasn't melted from melting. but i think the authorities have no confidence and they are not expecting to keep it up for the weeks or months that may be necessary to prevent a further core melt. >> we're also hearing about an hour ago a japanese nuclear safety official said the water inside the waste fuel storage pool for a damaged reactor at this same plant may be boolg. what is the significant of that? are we facing the potential of yet another explosion?

>> well, earlier today there was an explosion at the spent fuel pool of the number 4 reactor. this is a reactor that had been shut down, but all the fuel from the core was put in the spent fuel pool, so it was relatively hot. that experienced a hydrogen explosion indicating there was fuel damage. certainly if there is boiling water in a pool that means the water level covering the spent fuel could decrease and we could be faced with yet another episode of fuel degradation, hydrogen explosion. these pools are not within the leak-tight containment, so any radiation released from damaged fuel in the spent fuel pools would communicate directly with the environment. >> a very serious situation in japan. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> it's 7:11. now here's matt. >> meredith, thank you. beyond the human crisis, of course there is a humanitarian disaster unfolding in japan. ann curry is in minamisanriku, the small fishing village. it looked like this before the

disaster, now it is a wasteland. ann, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. that's right, matt, even without the nuclear threat, japan's disaster is already deepening. with 2,500 confirmed deaths and 15,000 people missing and yet another terrible discovery today. along japan's coast, a grim task. troops working steadily to recover a reported 2,000 bodies that began washing ashore today. also today, we saw our first convoy of military vehicles in the ravaged area. this while much of the country and the world focus on the safety of the nation's nuclear power plant while people living near the puck shim -- fukushima reactors are being scanned for radiation, half a million other people are living in shelters and with limited access to tv, radio or current newspapers, these women tell me they know little about the nuclear problems. what do you know about what's happening at the nuclear power plant?

[ speaking foreign language ] >> reporter: this woman says there are no instructions. we have just been told not to go outside. in the coastal town where 17,000 people used to live and more than half of the residents have disappeared, hope is fleeting. >> translator: my daughter was washed away. i don't know what to say. i hope my daughter is alive somewhere. >> reporter: my colleague lee cowen traveled to a makeshift morgue. >> this is what's left of the lower floor. this is the third floor. looks like one of the patient wards. nobody in here would have stood a chance. they were clearly proud of this hospital. this is a photo album we found with pictures of what the hospital looked like in better days. >> reporter: since the u.s. navy delivered supplies on sunday more than 90 countries have now ovd aid, much of which has yet to get to victims.

an early tally by the american red cross shows as of monday, $23 million in donations have been offered to help japan. >> i want to reiterate america's support for the people of japan, who are some of our closest friends and allies. >> reporter: tokyo, one of the world's largest cities and a financial hub of asia, has been paralyzed with trains out of service and major stores closed. and japan's stock market lost 13% of its value as big companies like toyota announced they would be closed under thursday, at least. everyone watches and waits for miracles like this 4-month-old survivor, pulled from beneath the rubble three days after she went missing, now reunited with her father. matt, late today, more good news. we heard that a 70-year-old woman who was in a house that was swept away by the tsunami has been found. she was suffering from

hypothermia but she was alive and is now being treated in a hospital. matt? >> all right, ann curry, small miracles in just a terrible situation. meanwhile the devastation in japan -- let's bring in melissa francis. >> matt, we're seeing widespread liquidation and selling across the board. all of the major indices are down between 2% and 3%. yore night we saw the nikkei fall about 10.5%. right at the open here, we watched stocks fall like a rock. the new york stock exchange invoked special rules to try to make trading more orderly. we did see a bit of a leveling off. stocks like ge, alcoa, all in a reextraction, and also tiffany and coach, companies that sold heavily into asia. commodities low as well. if you're looking for a silver

lining, crude oil is down more than $3, but hard to find a silver lining today. >> to what they investors are reacting to, we didn't see it in the wake of the quake or name. is this all about the nuclear crisis? >> it is. a lot of it is reaction to the fact that news is getting worse, there isn't a lot of clarity in what is going on there in a nuclear respect. the idea is the retraction shun will be bigger than originally thought. at the same time, japan is a controlled economy. it knows how to react to a crisis, and pump money into the economy and spend to rebuild. buzz we are definitely so egg a lot of concern today. >> and you add to the situation in japan, the unrest in the middle east, and there's just a lot of volatility out there. >> that's right, a lot of uncertainties. that's the thing that the market doesn't like, and it's sort of everywhere you look, just when things in the u.s. were getting better. >> melissa francis, at the

stoke, thank you very much. now, let's get a check of the our top stories, with savannah guthrie in for ann. >> good morning. in the news this morning the u.s. is warning against travel to bahrain this morning as violent clashes escalate between police and anti-monarchy protesters. troops have been sent to protect the king and his family. the white house is urging saudi arabia to show restraint in the region. moammar gadhafi's air and ground campaign is driving deeper into rebel-held eastern libya pounding a town near the capital of benghazi. meantime, diplomacy efforts are ramping up as well. secretary of state clinton met with a high-ranking opposition leader in paris to discuss what support, if any, the u.s. will provide in the fight for gadhafi's ouster. back here a luxury bus

traveling from new york's chinatown to philadelphia crashed on the new jersey turnpike last night killing two people on board. this as new details emerge in saturday's tour bus crash in the bronx which killed 15 people. state officials say the driver in saturday's crash had a suspended license, multiple traffic violations and a conviction for manslaughter. the governor of new york is investigating how he was allowed to drive at the time of the accident. hawaii has become the first state to average more than $4 for a gallon of gas. the price of fuel is up for the sixth week in a row. no state has averaged $4 a gallon since 2008. it's the only awards ceremony where snakes are welcome. the annual rock & roll hall of fame induction ceremony kept the party going until dawn in new york city. the event honored neil diamond, alice cooper, tom waits and others. of course a fake blood-stained cooper accepted the honor with snake in tow. it is now 7:18. now back to matt, meredith and

al. i guess that's how you do it if you're a rock star. >> i guess so. >> that's exactly right. al is back with the first look at the forecast. >> as we show you what's happening as far as our weather is concerned, heavy rain in the pacific northwest. another big storm moving in there. more showers in the northeast out of the ohio river valley which may slow the receding floodwaters here in the northeast. sunshine in new england and northeast today. plenty of sunshine through the southwest. 78 degrees in los angeles. looking for a high of 78 in brownsville, texas. well, we've still got rain showers streaming in and pushing from the west to the east, but the good news is that really solid line of showers has cleared the san francisco area, and right now it's starting to clear the south bay at well. more rain on the way. as you can see, santa rosa is getting a little more precipitation right now. heading throughout the afternoon, after this line colleagues, another one will move through, and we'll see on

and off showers today. have a great day. that's your latest weather. meredith? >> al, thank you. the magnitude of the disaster in japan is hard to grasp, the images searing and online you shows the disaster as it happened. michelle kosinski has the latest images. good morning, michelle. >> hi, meredith, not only is this one of the most powerful disasters it is certain to be the most documented. with so many cameras rolling during those moments. only now are some of the most jaw-dropping images coming out. to see that water, the reactions of people just out of its reach helps us to understand the unbridled force of nature. what strikes you over and over again is how quickly. within seconds the force swelled from just a splash in the street to a torrent more terrifying than they could have imagined.

from a broad wave, crashing at the barriers and a runaway freight train of dark water with as much violence, if not more. clips on the internet shot by amateur photographers showed the quake as it happened. at norita airport the shaking starts slowly. people stop. then it becomes much more intense. soon after in the northern town of miyako, a tsunami rolls in on a massive black wave, swallowing the seawall and everything with it. nearby a cell phone captured this. almost reaching the person who somehow remains steady. farther south in tamayichi, the tsunami takes on crushing power in moments. roaring into towns. finally, blasting through the streets like a waterfall without boundaries. the place itself becomes part of

it. mangled, uprooted, a watery wasteland. [ sirens ] >> reporter: you see it up close. that rush growing and growing until the person holding the camera also has to run to higher ground. just watching, hearing the strange new landscape dissolving below. above it, many are stranded and here, from barely enough distance you see the muddy wave march in and just overtake it -- all of it. the town that was. these pictures are hard to watch. you hear people say, that is unbelievable, but that is the power of nature. it has to be believable to us, especially since we, as humans are drawn to live by the millions along the edges of oceans and fault lines.

meredith? >> michelle kosinski, thank you very much. she said it, it's very hard to watch those imaging. hard to believe it. >> how fast it happens. >> yeah. >> that's true. there's a couple of pictures where people are just, it seems, 20, 30 yards from the first wave of water and you realize what must be going through their mind. you have to wonder, did they escape it? >> did they survive or not? >> the sounds you hear on the video, the panic. >> and they had little warning. it was 15 minutes or so before the first wave came in, 15 minutes to half an hour, in taking everything with it. it's amazing that anybody did survive to me. still ahead, we'll have much more from japan including the remarkable resilience that is being shown by the people hit hardest by the disaster. first this is "today" on nbc.

just ahead, is it okay for parents to allow their thol to? >> first your local news and

weather. i wear what i love, because expression means everything. ♪ too hot to trot some say i'm one-of-a-kind. i say i'm so chico's. good morning, everybody. time now, 7:of it. i'm present cannon. san francisco police are looking for whoever shot five people in the mission district overnight. one of the victims is in critical condition, and "today in the play's" christie smith spoke to the owner of the restaurant where it happened. christie? >> reporter: good morning to you. first we spoke it a couple of people. neighbors heard arguing and then rapid gunfire. one woman said it almost sounded like a machine gun and everyone started scattering. the door of the bar has seven bullet holes and yards away the

glass front door is shot out at the restaurant. the owner says the restaurant was actually packed last night at 11:00 and thankfully no one inside was hurt. outside though five people shout, one though in critical condition this morning. police believe that this may very well be gang-related. there have been several shootings and stabbings in the area recently. ity point no one has been arrested and police are looking for at least two shooters. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, "today in the bay." >> now a check at the forecast with christina. >> give yourself plenty of time this morning. a good batch of rain passed through the bay area. getting a little bit more active now and the clear lake and ukiah region. a flash flood watch for you all day today. after the first line of showers continues to push off to the east, right now it's clearing the south bay. another round of rain but overall today looks like

on-and-off scattered showers. let's check the ride with mike inouye. >> 80 and broadway there was an accident. that's cleared from the oakland area. approach to the toll plaza a little bit slow coming around the berkeley curve. the metering lights are on and low clouds in the area. we're looking at the slowdown for the south bay. all the way up to 680 past the airport and look at that. 287 jammed as well. >> more local news in half an hour and the "today" show s nt esinue lins than two minutes. l

7:30 on a tuesday morning, 15th of march 2011, where the nuclear catastrophe is unfortunately deepening in japan after a third reactor exploded at a crippled nuclear power plant. fire has broken out in a fourth reactor. we're going to have more on that. inside studio 1a, i'm matt lauer alongside meredith vieira. >> could the crisis in japan happen here? there are 104 nuclear plants in the u.s., some near fault lines. some say it is time to raise safety standards. >> also ahead, taking a turn, we'll have a different decision for a lot of parents.

how do you teach teens about alcohol? is it okay to let them experiment with drinking at home before they turn 21? we'll hear from parents taking different approaches to this issue with their own children. plus, if your car insurance rates you through the roof, how far would you go to lower them? coming up, a company that tracks every move behind the wheel. >> but let us begin with that big question being raised by the people here in the u.s. in the wake of nuclear disaster just how safe are our nuclear plants? nbc's lisa myers looked into the question. lisa, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. nuclear regulators say u.s. nuclear power plants are built to withstand significant earthquakes and tsunamis and that current safeguards are adequate to protect the public. however, experts note that japanese officials would have said the very same thing a week ago, and some scientists warn what's happening in japan could happen here. this was not supposed to happen.

a number of japanese reactors out of control, the threat of a nuclear meltdown. in the u.s. there are 104 nuclear power plants which provide 20% of electricity here. edwin limon of the union of concerned scientists ses this incident shows safety standards should be raised across the board. could what happened in japan happen here? >> yes. i'm afraid it could. unless we learn the lessons of this accident, then i'm afraid it's only a matter of time. >> reporter: issue one, earthquakes. some nuclear plants are located in or near areas of seismic risk. the greatest hazards, the areas in red. u.s. nuclear plants are required to be able to withstand the worst earthquake expected in their area, plus a margin of safety. two california plants are in earthquake-prone areas, diablo canyon built to withstand a 7.5

magnitude, and san onofre designed to withstand a 7.0. japan's was a 9.0. richard lester of m.i.t. >> we need to consider the possibility of greater magnitude earthquakes than we had previously considered. >> reporter: issue two, plant design. this is a design of the reactor in japan? >> that's correct. >> that's correct. >> reporter: there are 31 plants in the u.s. similar to those in trouble in japan, designed by general electric which is a part owner of nbc universal. one, oyster creek in new jersey, is the oldest nuclear plant in the country, about 50 miles from new york city. issue three, backup power systems. experts say the japanese reactors basically got into trouble because they lost electricity and backup power systems failed, too, leaving them struggling to cool the reactor core. marvin fertell of the energy

institute says thanks to improvements since 9/11, u.s. plants have more ability to cope if power is lost. >> we would be able to handle the situation much easier than the japanese are facing now. >> reporter: could what happened in japan happen here? >> could we have an event that -- we think -- i would say it's highly improbable it could happen here. if it did, i think we would handle it quite well here. >> reporter: democratic congressman ed markey called for a moratorium on building new reactors in earthquake-prone areas of this country until a sweeping safety review is conducted of exactly what went wrong in japan. >> lisa myers for us in washington, thank you very much. it's 34 after the hour. here's meredith. >> matt, thank you. back to ann curry in minamisanriku. good morning again. >> reporter: good morning again once again to you.

the scope of what's happening here is testing the spirit of a nation. our team found evidence of human strength against even these great odds. home from the evacuation center for the first time today, this 79-year-old and his 73-year-old wife were shocked so much was ruined, first by the earthquake and then by five feet of water. they didn't wait for outside help. she says everyone is the same. he adds, i want to get this work over so i can help others. five days into this disaster, a spirit of self-reliance is evident everywhere. helping augment the short water supply, neighbors boil snow they trucked down from nearby mountains. they make chop sticks by hand using bamboo they gathered

themselves. making even cups and bowls. for people who have lost everything. at this evacuation center -- what do you not have enough of here to take care of people -- a local official says people need food, heat and doctor. balls of rice are brought in by local women and the elderly who run out of medicine are closely watched over and kept warm. rarely has a nation so powerful been this vulnerable. having lost so much, japan appears as broken as its landscape. but it is not. tatsuo and sumi say, we are old but we expect the next generation will build us back even better. the challenge is hard to describe. our team drove further north and found the coastline. the devastation goes on and on

and on. you know, there is a word here in japan which means to never, ever, ever, ever even and especially when there is no chance of winning to ever give up. that word is something that japan really needs right now. meredith, back to you. >> absolutely. ann curry, thank you so much. that shot of the little boy with the "please help us" sign is heartbreaking. a check of the weather from al now. >> thank, meredith. as we look into the northwest we have a big storm system bringing rain along the coast from northern california and the pacific northwest with mountain snows and areas with up to three feet of snow in the upper elevations n. the east we have another storm system bringing heavy rain through the southeast. maybe a few severe storms, but also more rain into the northeast which will mean it . ll slow down the rate o

well, good tuesday morning to you. we've got showers pushing through the bay area. getting a little bit of a break now in places like san francisco. but there's another round of rain on the way. can you see the cell pushing through santa rosa on its way to san francisco in the next half hour. throughout the day today, on-and-off light scattered showers. heavy rain at times. we'll kind of see some of that yellow and red embedded with the green heading through the day, especially in the north bay. 63 degrees the forecast high in fremont and 62 in san jose. to keep track of your weather all day go to the weather channel on cable or weather.com online. meredith? >> thank you, al. up next, would you want your driving habits monitored 24/7? the controversial new i tove mney o aronnsaney o m car insurance. that's right after this.

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ray, kim and two teenage drivers, lauren, a 19-year-old college student and taylor, a high school junior and brand new driver. to insure them would cost $900 every six months so they turned to flo. >> this keeps track of your driving habits so you can save money. >> amazing. >> reporter: progressive calls it snapshot, a diagnostic monitor that plugs into the car and tracks often you drive, the time of day, how quickly you accelerate and how hard you brake. all of the data collected and charted online. depending on how well each family member drove they could get a discount of 1% to 30%. that started a competition. who's the best driver? >> the best is probably my dad. >> reporter: there is no gps attached, so the company insists it can't track a customer's location or speed. >> we are not that interested in what speed you're going. we don't know whether that would

be the correct speed or over the speed limit, whatever. it's more about driving behaviors that tell us you are a defensive driver or whether or not you are using the car a great deal. >> reporter: progressive isn't the only insurance company offering discount monitoring. state farm and allstate have their own programs. some consumer advocates fear insurance giants could one day require customers to accept the monitors and then charge more for those with long commutes or drive at night. >> i think insurance should be more widely spread. it ought to be spread across the community so that everyone can afford insurance and that it's not discriminatory. >> reporter: back at the jasco home, a bit of a surprise. >> i think i'm the best driver. >> reporter: ray's driving scores saved the family 19%. kim also got a 19% discount. lauren earned 21% and the brand new driver, taylor -- >> i learned i was a good driver most of the time. >> reporter: a 30% discount, the best in the family.

>> i'm grateful to know that my son and my daughter have safe driving habits. >> reporter: safe teenage driver. the total savings for the family was $400. we should point out that ray and kim drive more, so they probably could have gotten a bigger discount but they drive a lot more than the kids do. privacy advocates have concerns here. they are afraid insurance companies may be collecting too much data that follows you for a long time. it could be a slippery slope. back to you. >> tom costello, fascinating report. thank you very much. up next, the hottest new show in prime time you will not find on the major networks. first, these messages. what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself. i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor.

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we are back now with the new television series that's a ratings juggernaut. it's a spanish language soap opera and it's giving the major english networks a run for their money. >> it's not your ordinary, oh, i'm trying to fall in love with this person. >> reporter: these young women are hooked on what many are calling a new breed of television. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> i like the romance between them. >> the music, the intensity, the drama. >> reporter: it's sultry, suspenseful and it's all in spanish. [ speaking in a foreign language ]

♪ >> reporter: it's spanish for "the queen of the south" and it's telemundo's blockbuster prime time soap opera. the soaps is a rating smash, captivating young viewers who never before tuned in to spanish language entertainment. it was the number one show at 10:00 p.m. once this month beating english language networks. >> what does this mean for hispanic audiences? >> it means that we are expanding. i think it means better things are coming for all of us, bilingual things. >> reporter: spanish soap operas are the most popular shows in south america, often mocked in mainstream media. those stereotypes are changing. the leading lady abandoned them for hollywood, but something lured her back.

>> something happened with this project. what do you think it was? >> this is a once in a lifetime character. she's following her instincts. that makes her survive and makes her become a powerful, respected woman. >> reporter: a respected woman who is a drug lord. the story follows the transformation of a small town girl into a cocaine queen determined to avenge the death of her airplane pilot lover. >> what about this story is making you switch languages and watch tv in spanish? >> i watch a lot of reality tv. there are real issues here as well. >> right now there are 45 million hispanics in the u.s. the number is supposed to triple by 2050. shows like this won't be an xechings but more of a regular factor in american tv.

>> reporter: is this a game-changer, a beginning of maybe a new era for spanish language television? >> hispanics will change the landscape of television forever. it will never go back to what it used to be. it's only going forward. >> reporter: a bright future and a growing audience. for today, lila luis an know, nbc news, los angeles. >> that looks like just another day in my life, really. >> you mean money in the briefcase? >> the men, the bikinis. >> shirts blowing open. >> none of it. we have to note -- of course it's now gone. telemundo is part of our networks. that's important to know. it's owned by nbc-universal. >> that's right. >> just ahead would you let your teen drink alcohol at home? >> the debate after your local news. your teen drink alcohol at home? >> the debate after your local news.

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> good morning, everybody. time now 7:56. i'm brent cannon. can you share your thoughts on san jose mayor chuck reed's budget plan during two meetings today. the san jose city council will hold a public hearing at the end of the afternoon session today and then again during the session at 7:00 tonight. the mayor's plan outlines goals for the closing $105 million budget gap, which includes retirement reforms and benefit changes for union workers. the council will then vote on the measure next tuesday. despite plenty of rain this winter and good snow pack in the high country an east bay county wants you to get rid of your grass to save water. the alameda county district will offer a program that offers rebates and shows homeowners how to replace their lawns with eco-friendly gardens. lawns account for half of the water use for a typical home,

and having a sustainable garden helps conserve water. for more information logon to stopwaste.org. right now we're getting plenty of water for the run. a check in with christina and the forecast. >> that's right. probably don't want to go out and mow it because there's more on the way because the bulk of the moisture from the first round of showers is now clearing the south bay. we've got more on the way as we head throughout this afternoon. as can you see, we'll widen out. seeing a little bit of lightning now pushing onshore just to the south of ukiah. thunderstorms,ç definitely fai game for that today. by about noon, the next round of rain arrives in the north bay and will spread south and 5:00 p.m. this evening, a pretty slick drive home for you. keep that in mind and tonight showers will finally clear. temperatures will end up in the 60s. 62 degrees in san jose and 60 degrees up in santa rosa and 63 today in san francisco. a little bit more rain on the way for tomorrow. not as steady in terms of the amount of rain we're expecting. 63 degrees. i think it will be probably

about maybe 1/10 of an inch, nothing heavy. cloudy for st. patrick's day. a check of the drive now with mike inouye. >> the rain causing a little bit of a slowdown. east shore freeway half an hour and approaching the bay bridge toll plaza, lights still on there. a smooth drive and slowing around the express lane and south bay, light slowing there. brent, back to you. >> thanks a lot, mike. more local news in half an hour. "today" show in less than a minute.

8:00 now on tuesday morning, march 15, 2011. i have officially recalled it the rolling spring break under way. we have a big, big crowd here on the plaza. look at these folks. this is fantastic. i'm meredith vieira along with matt lauer and al roker. this is really a wonderful crowd. >> a big, excited crowd. >> yeah. >> i wonder how these people would feel about the question we'll be asking in the next half hour. you have children, teenagers. inevitably it seems they will experience with drinking alcohol. >> right. >> a lot of parents say, wait,

if they are going to experience with drinking anyway, i'm going to let them experiment in my own home under my supervision. other parents say, no, that's not right. 21 is 21. we'll get into the debate. >> they all have opinions. >> around thanksgiving or christmas. >> what age? >> 12, 13. we had a little wine. >> sometimes it's cultural, too. >> absolutely. >> from a portuguese or italian family. did you? >> i may have had a sip. i don't think i ever had my parents say, here, have a full glass of wine at age 16. >> right. >> on a different note, harry potter is stopping by. daniel radcliffe is getting ready to part from his famous role and is bringing his talents back to broadway, but this time singing and dancing in a classic broadway musical. >> they are in reviews right now. i understand standing ovations

for him constantly. he's just great. such a nice young man. he's a lovely guy. first a check on the top stories. savannah guthrie is filling in for ann curry in japan. >> good morning. we start in japan. a third explosion rocked a quake-ravaged nuclear power plant overnight there as japanese prime minister naoto kan warned residents within a 19-mile radius of the reactor to stay indoors. kan heatedly confronted nuclear officials for not responding quickly enough to the blast. officials elevated friday's earthquake to a 9.0 magnitude, about 1.5 times stronger than previously estimated. as the earthquake crisis deepens in japan, many americans living near fault lines wonder if a disaster could strike close to home. george lewis joins us from ocean shores in washington state. good morning, george. >> reporter: good morning. ocean shores is one of seven

communities designated as tsunami-ready by noaa. as we have learned from watching awful images from japan tsunami-ready isn't necessarily tsunami-proof. experts say what happened to japan can and will be duplicated in the pacific northwest sometime in the future. that's because a huge fault runs from cape mendecino up to vancouver island in british columbia. experts say it can produce a magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami like what hit japan. >> the earthquake is inevitable, speaking as ale geologist. >> reporter: this shows what happens when the tsunami comes, wiping out major portions of ocean shores. there is only one way out of town and emergency officials concede when the tsunami hits, not everyone will escape. >> if something like that happened here it would be a dire situation. >> reporter: in california, two

nuclear plants is it not far from known earthquake faults. the operators say the plants will with stand future quakes but nuclear power opponents question that. the west coast is on what's known as the pacific ring of fire where the plates that form the crust of the planet earth bump up against one another. recently it's been active. quakes and tsunamis in indonesia, chile, new zealand. does that mean we are next? >> we don't have enough data to suggest that one of these quakes would trigger another at such large distances. >> reporter: that said, the western faults could rupture at any time according to experts. they warn that people need to be ready for that. >> thank you, george. officials say the tsunami triggered by the japan earthquake caused at least $40 million worth of damage along the california coast. boats are still being recovered

in santa cruz harbor where more than 100 vessels were damaged or destroyed. the house is voting on another measure to keep the federal government running for three weeks. it cuts $6 billion in spending. republicans and democrats are still trying to reach a deal on a long-term budget. a new report from the alzheimer's association says nearly 15 million people in the u.s. take care of a loved one with alzheimer's or another form of dementia adding up to 17 billion hours worth ovof unpaid. an advertising executive in latvia taught his backyard birds to tweet by attaching pieces of their favorite snack, pork fat to a keyboard. he films them so they can be seen live online. let's go back to meredith and matt. i think we'll try a similar

technique to get you tweeting. >> it's a little bit loud out here. say it again? >> we'll try a similar technique to get you tweeting. >> and we have another new tweeter here. >> one day i tweeted. >> that was it? it's over? >> i may go back to it when you do. >> i have to start to go back. >> right. >> let's go to the other end of the plaza to check out mr. roker. >> it's texas moms gone wild. where are you from? >> ft. worth. >> what have you done here? >> everything. >> that certainly encompasses a lot. as far as your weather is concerned, nbc 3 wkyc-hd,le hello cleveland. afternoon rain and 46 degrees. we have a stom snysteow d to the southeast bringing heavy rain to northern georgia. that will spread up into the northeast today into the night. we have heavy rain and wind in the pacific northwest. high surf advisories southern

california. beautiful weather texas into the central plains. showers in the northern mississippi riverle valley. good morning to you. we're actually tracking some severe cells right now. a pretty good cell right now just to the west of hillsberg. looks like it's going to produce quite a bit of lightning. if you're headed toward 101 between healdsburg and 101 take it easy. it looks like it will arrive in ten minutes. the whole bay area is getting a chance to dry out but we will see another pretty good round of rain up in the north by spreading by 5:00 p.m. to the mainland areas inland. 60 degrees in oakland today. 61 in los gatos. th?e you have a great day. >> al, thank you very much. up next, teaching your kids about the dangers of alcohol. le should you let your teen drink at home? we'll get into that after this. there are milestones that no parent wants to miss. let's see, there's first steps.

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this morning on "today's parenting" a volatile issue with teens and alcohol. how do you teach your kids to drink responsibly? for some the answer is to let them tryle alcoh alcohol at hom. here's lee cowan. >> reporter: for all the proven dangers of alcohol, especially drinking and driving we are taught only half the equation, it seems. while the law requires we learn how to drive, it does not require we learn how to drink. >> it's frightening to think you are going out there in this world experimenting at age 21. >> reporter: these days that experimenting is happening earlier. in fact, 11% of all alcohol consumed in this country is by those under 21. 6% of 12 to 14-year-olds say they have had a drink in the past month. that's 700,000 kids. the question is where did they get that drink? >> it was fun, but i knew how to not go too far. >> reporter: we gathered college

students together to ask where they began drinking. the resounding answer, with their parents. >> they would give me a glass of wine here, a beer with winner or something. >> in my house it was more socially acceptable that you start drinking at home when you're younger. >> it taught me responsibility. >> reporter: it's touchy and not all parents agree. >> laws are in place for a good reason. >> reporter: terry moran's kids never had a drop of alcohol at home and won't, he says, until they are legal. >> kids think, hey, if my parents think it's okay, i can just go and hang out with my friends and drink. i see it all the time. >> reporter: the argument for allowing drinking at home goes like this. first it's better to have kids learn their tolerance in a caring environment at home, not a bar. second, making alcohol accessible makes it less taboo. >> some parents may say you are not allowed to do this ever. we are not talking about it,

trying it. >> reporter: first thing on your mind -- >> i want to try it. why can't i? what is it that they don't want me to find out about? >> reporter: the down side, some experts say exposing teens to alcohol only increases the chances of binge drinking, even alcoholism later on. many experts say the research is inconclusive at best. >> i don't think there is a right answer, but if you ask me which i think is better, i think it's really, really important for parents to teach their kids to drink responsibly. >> reporter: it is a personal decision that we found very few parents want to talk about. no one wants to be accused of contributing to the abuse of alcohol, but just as many say demystifying alcohol may take away some of its power. for "today" lee cowan, nbc news, los angeles. >> dr. janet taylor is a psychiatrist and anne choquette is here from seventeen magazine. what do you think the answer is?

>> i think we're talking about parents supplying alcohol where you throw the kids in the basement, take the keys and give them booze. it's not the right thing to do. first is discussing clear rules with your child, letting them know you will monitor their activities which you have to do for teenagers. >> so you're sitting around the family dinner table. wine is being served and you have a 15-year-old. is it okay to serve that 15-year-old a glass of wine? not smell it and take a sip. but a fwlaglass of wine to givem an idea what it's like to drink? >> 25% of their readers say their parents let them drink at home. what they are learning is not necessarily how to drink. what they are learning is trust. they say it's amazing that their parents trust them to behave responsibly in the house and when they are out of the house. >> are there studies that say those children then don't go out and experiment just as hard with friends who are underage?

>> absolutely we need to worry about the parties, binge drinking is really a problem. teenagers who want access to alcohol will get it. >> studies were inconclusive. it's different if you're talk about sitting around and monitoring, yes, they can have a sip. do i say, give your child a glass of wine so they can know what it's like? no. binge drinking is different. we want to stop binge drinking in high school because they are more likely to binge drink in college. it gets back to the quality of the relationship and how much communication is happening at home. >> the laws aren't ambiguous. in all 50 states 21 is the legal age for drinking but 31 states do allow parents to provide alcohol to minors. so i do worry that if you're saying to your child, if you are not in one of those states where it's 21 or nothing saying, yeah, but it's okay at home. you're saying some laws are

meant to be broken. >> the issue is we are trying to look at it in terms of learning to drive a car, a bike and drinking responsdrink ing responsibility. our job is to make sure our kids can make decisions. you don't have to sit with a glass of wine with your child to do that. >> when is the proper age, do you think, to initiate this conversation with kids? >> it's younger than you think it is. the pressure these kids feel at parties is phenomenal. it starts early. the first time your teen goes to a party where you think there could be drinking, that's the time for the conversation. >> it's middle school because it's about making choices and responsible decision making. >> i have one other concept to bring up. some parents say, okay, my kids can invite ten kids over and i will let them all drink. you're not supposed to be a

parent for someone else's kid. that's a personal decision. >> i told my four daughters -- my souyoungest is 17. i said, if you're in a house and a parent lets you drink, that parent will deal with me. we have to take responsibility for what we allow to happen in our own home. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. up next, daniel radcliffe on his new role on broadway. we'll talk to him right after this. higher. -[ sneezes ] hey, walgreens, i need some allergy relief fast

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that. >> yes. >> which is harder, being nude in front of an audience or singing and dancing? >> i don't know. probably -- well -- >> they're different. >> very different reasons. singing and dancing, dancing isn't something that came naturally to me. i did a lot of lessons to do that. >> being nude on stage comes naturally? >> well, anyone can do it. if i have to choose one to do eight times a week it would be singing and dancing. over a long period of time that's more preferable. >> you are a terrific dancer in this, but it took a lot of effort. you were not a natural. >> not at all. when i wasn't filming a potter i was doing nine hours of training a week and on my days off from potter i would do three hours. i didn't want rob, our director, a fantastic choreographer, to

have to censor himself in terms of toning down what he would want me to do. i wanted him to have as wide an array of tools at his disposal as he could which he now kind of does. i did -- as opposed to a couple years ago i couldn't have almost done my left from my right in terms of dancing. now i'm a lot better. >> yeah. in the play, you play j. pierpont finch. he's a go getter. starts as a window washer and ends up as chairman of the board. when you were a kid, you were discovered in a theater. >> yeah. that'smantromanticized version of the story. that's when i met the producers of potter for the first time. i don't think i'm nearly as cut throat as j. pierpont finch is but it was fun to play somebody

unashamedly ambitious and completely obsessed by the idea of rising to the top. >> are you ambitious? >> for myself, definitely. i don't think i would ever let ambition get in the way of my morality which is the thing that separates me from finch. finch is somebody who -- yeah, is quite willing to do things that aren't necessariliy mother-in-lmorally upstanding to get ahead. but it's a testament to how well the character is written is you still like him despite the fact that not everything he does is kosher. >> this is the 50th anniversary of the musical. you're following in big shoes. robert morse, matthew brodrick. you're 21 and they were older in their 30s. fill in the blank. if they had age and experience, i have --

>> the confidence of youth. i don't know. it's one of the things that i think makes it a different production and what i bring to it is the fact that because he is -- well, because i am so young playing him so young it kind of makes you forgive a lot of the reprehensible behavior. oh, he's young, he doesn't know any better. whereas the temptation with an older person may be that he's manipulative. when somebody's 21 you forgive more. >> the last film of the harry potter franchise comes out this summer. i know you said you have moved on, did your mourning, but what do you miss the most? >> working with, you know, the crew on those films every day. i was close with the crew.

being able to see some of my best friends every day was very, very special. i will miss that a huge amount. >> we're glad that you are sticking around. that's for sure. great reviews you are getting. >> they're not out yet, but people are enjoying it. >> standing ovations, i understand. even though you don't read the reviews. >> no, i don't read them. >> daniel, thank you so much. just ahead, actor ted danson.

good morning everybody. it's 8:26 now. a federal court will hear arguments today on whether san francisco's ranked choice voting system is constitutional. ranked choice lets voters mark their first, second, and third picks in an election. if needed a series of elimination rounds automatically takes place to find the winner. the 9th circuit court of appeals will hear today's arguments. a group of voters led by a former supervisor candidate says the system is unfair and creates a series of small run-off elections. backers of the system say it saves the city money and streamlines the voting ocprpr e. ather and traffic coming up right after our break.

good tuesday morning to you. if you're just waking up with us you have some showers outside. they've been coming down for the past few hours, definitely enough to slow the commute down this morning. we'll check with mike in just a minute. also embedded within this rain we have some lightning out there this morning. watch out for that as we head throughout the day today with temperatures that are warm enough and enough moisture, conditions conducive to the formation of some of those thunderstorms. by 5:00 p.m. still wet. clearing tonight at 10:00. let's check the drive right now.

>> we have a slower drive down the east shore freeway especially around the merge around the richmond bridge and a new incident. waiting for an escort for a large rig that traveled through the treasure island on the upper deck. you'll see some slowing right around the s curve because of that escort. you'll find some slowing there. meanwhile 880 past the coliseum, a live look shows you the big slowdown for northbound 880 up toward fruitvale where an earlier accident is cleared. >> more local news in half an hour. the "today" show returns in less than a minute. have a great morning.

the american public wants us to cooperate. the people expect us to do better. >> we need bipartisan support to get things done. y.untrs cot un. we are back now, 8:30 on a tuesday morning. it's the 15th day of march, 2011. we have a big crowd out on rockefeller plaza smiling, waving, some even chanting "meredith, meredith". >> right. >> we're happy to have these people out on the plaza. i'm matt lauer along with meredith vieira. savannah guthrie joins us from the white house. good to have you here while ann

is on assignment. mr. roker joins us as well. coming up, a familiar face. >> a very familiar face. olympic gold medalist krist kristy yamaguchi is here. she's written her first children's book and is here to tell us all about it. >> all right. >> "dream big, little pig". >> and "top chef" judge tom collicchio is here making pork. >> i thought you were going to transition into our other familiar face. we have ted danson in the house. won emmy awards as the bartender we all loved on "cheers." if you know him, you know he's passionate about a lot of things other than acting. for example, the oceans. ted is giving us a hint of that to talk about a new book he's

written in a few minutes. >> it's a neat book. first we want to say hello to the latest contestant to tip the scales and leave nbc's "biggest loser couples." sarah, nice to see you. >> hello. >> last weigh-in you lost four pounds. jen only lost one, olivia and hannah lost two, but you went home. what's up? >> i don't know. can we fight it? it doesn't seem fair, but it is a game. they had to -- they had their team in mind. i'm doing great at home. i love it. i'm using the biggest loser meal plan by e-diets and working out. i'm doing well. >> on the ranch you weighed 261. you lost 70 pounds on the ranch but it looks like you have lost more. >> i have. i'm down 93 pounds now. >> great. >> thank you. >> how has the lishow changed yr

life? >> physically i feel lighter and better. mentally, emotionally, i feel like a different person like now -- it changed my relationships. i'm more confident and i love myself now. other people love mma and it's because of that. >> that's a good testimonial right there. congratulations. i'm happy for you. >> thank you. >> "biggest loser couples" airs tonight at 8:00/7:00 central time on nbc. nice having you here. >> thank you very much. >> mr. roker? >> let's check out the weather. looking at today, we've got strong storms moving into the pacific northwest. rain, windy mountain snows. the rain spreads up into the northeast tonight. tomorrow you will see the showers moving through the northeast and new england. the northwest still has more rain. hot weather from the southwest into texas with temperatures in the 70s and low 80s. mild through the gulf coast.

sunny but cool around the grea good morning. we still have rain coming down across the bay area. the first line of showers has now pushed through but it was producing some lightning up in the north bay so you want to keep your eyes peeled this morning. really want to take it easy out there. we could see some heavy periods of rain associated with some of these cells. as you can see there is heavy rain, a little lightning cell on its way to santa rosa right now. by about noon we'll see our next round of rain start to push through the bay area. by 5:00 p.m. we're looking at mostly wet conditions across the area and 11:00 p.m. tonight finally some clearing. >> get your weather any time of the day or night. go to the weather channel or weather.com online. online. >> do you know what's next? >> what? >> actor ted danson opens up about his deepest passion. first this is "today" on nbc.

back now at 8:36. actor ted danson is perhaps best

known as the bartender sam malone on "cheers". >> yes, i'll take a message. >> well? >> you're a magnificent pagan beast. >> thanks. what's the message? >> so my place or yours? >> i have a roommate. >> yours it is. >> you know, i always wanted to pop you one. maybe this is my lucky day, huh? >> you disgust me. i hate you. >> are you as turned on as i am? >> more. >> what you may not know about ted danson, he's one of the world's leading ocean conservationists. his new book is called "ocean ia." good to have you here. >> thanks. >> you were at the height of your "cheers" fame and had an epiphany saying i don't want to be a guy only known for one thing. i think you thought i don't want to be a vapid hollywood type.

so you educated yourself on this. what were the steps you took? >> i'm still vapid. i was walking on the beach with my daughters and we saw a sign that said "water polluted, no swimming." i had no idea how to answer it. it's so vast and beautiful, what's the problem. i started with an environmental lawyer friend of mine an organization called american oceans campaign which later, 10 years ago merged into oceania, the world's largest marine conservation group. i have always used hi, thank you for watching cheers, i appreciate that, come into the tent. >> it's a calling card, right. >> to these scientists. >> of all the charitable giving in this country, about 1% goes to the oceans. 99% goes to land-based charities. yet when you look at the earth the numbers are reversed. >> right.

which is why it's a timely thing for the book. it's a little bit out of sight out of mind, but the trust is the oceans are at a tipping point. >> you say unless dramatic action or radical change occurs here are some of the scarry what-ifs. 2050 the great barrier reef dead. by 2080 island nations will be under water. within the next century the only seafood left to eat will be jellyfish. these are the claims that make headlines and sell books. is there science, in your opinion, to back that up? >> yes, but this is not what's going to happen. this is what could happen if we don't change. >> worst case scenario. >> right. it should not happen because you can change your ways and do the right thing. we are incredibly wasteful and destroying habitat, doing all these things wrong that we could turn around. for example, in this country our fish management system is pretty good actually. we have come a long way.

>> what's the biggest piece of progress that's been made? you have said in the past that overfishing is basically one of the biggest problems. i know trawling, you think may be public enemy number one. what changes are happening? >> with oceania, we are now working with the fishing councils on the west coast. we set aside in the mediterranean and off the west coast a million square miles to no more offshore oil drilling, no more bottom trawling, period. they destroy the nurseries. they scrape the bottom and turn them into gravel pits instead of corals and nooks and crannies where little fish become the big fish we like to eat. we are destroying nurseries. about a third of the world's catch thrown overboard dead or dying because it's not the fish they are after. >> we are less than a few months

from the world's oil disaster. do you think that disaster did in some way refocus people's attention on our seas to the point where we look at them differently now? >> i think so, to some degree. once again, we are screaming for more energy in this country and jobs are a big issue. people are becoming more focused, but the argument is the same. do we offshore oil drill or not? that's still very much alive. >> you talk about big changes we are making, for example, in the way we fish. what's the biggest thing you think an individual -- a viewer watching right now could do to positively impact the future of our oceans? >> you can do individual things like become an informed buyer of fish. ask at the counter, let me see the fda list, the fish that are safe to eat. some fish have too much mercury in them. don't eat farm salmon. most of our salmon comes from

chile. they grind up three pounds of wild fish to make one pound of farmed salmon we can eat. stick to great alaskan wild salmon. educate yourself as a consumer. the truth is you need to be a global activist. it's impossible to do in our busy day. i offer you oceania.org. go online, click here and you become an e-activist. you click and in five minutes you are an activist that truly is making a difference. >> ted danson, nice to have you here. >> can i say one last thing? >> no. >> it's a hopeful book. not doom and gloom. this is what you can do to turn it around so you can answer your grandkids what did you do when you found out about it. >> thanks, ted. appreciate it. up next, gold medal figure

skat skater kristy yamaguchi. it's not that the easy days, are what keep me coming back for more. and the customer says, on the carpet." what? gonna be difficult. don't tell me about a dog. a day care full of kids, house chickens. call a day's work. call 1-800-steemer

back now at 8:45 with figure skating great kristi yamaguchi. the 1992 olympic champ is trying something new. she's written her first children's book called "dream big, little pig." it's the story of a pig who tries singing, dancing and modeling before finally finding her home on the ice. good morning to you system good morning. >> we're old buddies but i didn't know you loved pigs. i do, too. >> you're a pig person. >> yeah. >> ever since i remember, growing up pigs were my favorite. i was born the year of the pig and of course miss piggy was one of my favorites growing up. i have collected pigs for a long time. >> when it came time to write a children's book it became natural to write for a pig. >> i wanted a little girl, an

animal, i thought a pig would be whimsical and fun. she could be a strong positive character. >> what's interesting is poppy -- and we are seeing the great illustrations -- she tries a lot of things before she finds that skating is really her thing. any parallels with your life? >> there probably are. i did try baton twirling, basketball, gymnastics. none of those things -- i didn't hit it off with any of them. for some reason when i saw a skating show, i tried it once and at 6 years old, that was it. >> you knew? >> i knew. >> in the book the pig goes to new pork city and ends up at a skating rink reminiscent of rockefeller center. is that an homage? >> i think so. she's wandering a city and sees a beautiful ice rink. the play on words was too good to pass up. also rockefeller center is a special place. i have great memories there. >> we have watched you through

the years. that's for sure. also your children. we have documented kyra and emma who are now 7 and 5. we have shown them on the show with you. i understand that kyra came up with the name poppy for the book. >> she did. she had a hand in poppy's name asking her, okay, come up with p names for the pig. we were looking at flowers and petunia was taken. i liked peony. she liked poppy. >> and emma is the name of the character that's poppy's buddy in the book. did you worry about putting emma in and not kyra? and they will be on the psychiatrist couch blaming you in 20 years? >> i was worried but i explained to kyra, i'll talk about you at the end and emma is just a popular name right now. she was fine with it. i think she has claimed that she named poppy.

>> this is your first children's book. why now? >> i have wanted to do it for years. after having the children and spending hours and hours reading to them seeing the joy and love they get out of reading and the books i thought, i have to do one for them. >> yeah, yeah. >> we were saying on the break we couldn't believe vancouver has been a year now. it was scary to look back. >> we need a reunion. >> the girls night out was the highlight of the trip. we went out, you and me and natalie. >> that was my one night out. people think we were out every night like that. >> we gave you a name. hoochie yamaguchi because of your behavior. >> what was your name? >> i can't remember. >> miss vancougar. >> that was appropriate. we had a great time. i want people to know a portion of proceeds from the book

benefit your always dream foundation. tell us about that. >> we are focused on education and especially on early literacy and technology. you know, how fitting that poppy will help us support early literacy. we're excited and hopefully we can get the book in the hands of a lot of children out there. >> it's a great read and the pictures are fantastic. you're a really good children's book author. >> thank you. it's fun. >> nice to see you here. >> nice to see you, always, hoochie. "dream big, little pig." kristi yamaguchi, thank you very much. up next, a lesson from the kitchen. but first this is "today" on nbc. versus toyota. which is better? [ male announcer ] why do so many car companies compare themselves to toyota? maybe it's because toyota has more hybrids on the road than all other automakers combined. like the 50-mpg-rated prius, the best selling hybrid in america. and prius was also named a best overall value of the year.

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this morning on "today's kitchen" cooking with top chef's tom colicchio. many know him as an exacting judge. he's also the owner of kraft and river park restaurants here in new york.

>> how's it going? >> we're making pork porterhouse which is hard to say. how does it compare to a beefsteak? >> here's the beef porterhouse. you have the loin on one side of the t-bone and a filet which has to measure at least two inches across. less than that and it's a t-bone. >> okay. >> so on the pork, same thing. the ratio is about the same. obviously not two inches but the ratio of loin meat to tenderloin meat is about the same. we dubbed it a pork porterhouse. >> if you go to the butcher and ask for that they will know what you mean? >> they may look at you like you're crazy. say you want a loin chop with the tenderloin attached. >> i think that would be hard to cook. >> you have to slow down. >> me personally or the cooking? >> both actually. >> on top of the stove which is interesting. >> no, we'll go in the oven. >> oh. >> we brown it nicely on the stove and then add some butter. >> always add butter. when in doubt.

>> we want to pour some of the fat off. then we had herbs to the pan. meredith, come on over and baste it. you were doing some constant basting there. that's important. >> once it goes in the oven every five minutes or so you want to get in there and baste it. y just like a turkey to keep it moist and it looks good. >> when does it go in the oven? >> as soon as it's brown on all sides. >> we'll serve it with a relish. >> we have a pine nut raisin roasted red pepper relish starting with onions and shallots in the pan. add pine nuts, let it toast up a little bit. after that's done we'll add the raisins which have been plumped already. >> what does that mean? >> we put them in hot water. they're dry. you want to reconstitute them. add our peppers. we let that cook and then we'll

add vinegar. we'll let it cook down. >> this is what it looks like at the end? >> you can add a little bit of water if it looks dry. >> i'm not a relish fan but this looks good. >> do you like? >> it is good. lots of different flavors in there. >> at the end, you just finish it with a little bit of oregano. has to be at the end. if you put it in too early the vinegar turns it brown. >> you serve it with eggplant? >> sure. matt? do you want to do that? >> okay. >> do it artistically so it's pretty, not a mess. >> okay. i need this guy here. >> that guy is cooked? >> that guy is cooked. we're short on time, so hopefully it's cooked. >> what color should the meat be? >> this is on the rare side.

it's okay. you want it to be about 160. >> i thought pork had to be cooked? >> there hasn't been an outbreak of trichinosis since world war ii in the united states. >> it's time. >> right. this one rested. >> you suggest that people let the meat rest. why is that important? >> what happens is when you cook the meat the juices come to the center. you want the juices to go back into the meat. >> you took off the fat. >> well, just a little bit. >> okay. the fat's good. >> and we have relish on top. >> beautiful. >> i love the way the egg flant lo -- eggplant looks on the plate. >> it looks great. we have a job for you when you're done with this gig. >> take him. >> pork porterhouse, colicchio. we like it. >> coming up we reveal today's royal treatment finalists after your local news. it's a work of art.

good morning everybody. time now is 8:56. i'm brent cannon. the nuclear crisis in japan is causing fear and speculation about what would happen if the radiation reaches the west coast. experts say there is no need to worry unless the disaster gets much, much worse. the chair of the nuclear regulatory commission says there is a very low probability that

harmful radiation levels will reach hawaii or the west coast. experts say a lot of the radiation will be diluted by rains over the pacific ocean. right now we want to check in with christina taking a peek at our forecast this morning. >> in the bay area right now steady rain is finally clearing out. we'll get a nice little break but there is more rain on the way especially up in the north bay where we expect the most moisture to pass through as we head through the day. right now the peninsula is getting a nice break. showers are mostly coming down right now to the east in the foothills just to the east of livermore. as we head throughout the day today our temperatures will end up in the 60s. we have a subtropical moisture tap keeping us nice and warm. back to you, brent.

it is no surprise the political revolts in the middle east have spiked our gas prices. what is surprising is after four years of wrangling california still has no renewable energy mandate for the future. i'm suzanne shaw, editorial director. the goal of our current law will be met this year with 20% renewable power in our electricity. so what's next? we believe that the new bill calling for a 33% renewables by 2020. california is rich in renewable energy -- wind, solar, geo thermal. the bay area has often led environmental reforms with broad, public support. and with our venture capitalists ready to build a green economy, we can lead the nation away from foreign oil and build a greener

future for this state. we need our legislators and our governor to pass senate bill 2x. agree or disagree? tell us what you think. nbc editorials.com. we are back with more of "today" on a tuesday morning. it's the 15th day of march, 2011. shaping up to a be a pretty nice day here in the new york area. thank you. >> we've got a nice crowd of people gathered out on the plaza, happy that they all stuck around. we've come outside. ann curry is on location in japan. we're going to be checking in with her in just a second. clearly, that is the story that we're all talking about. first you have wa is now, by the way, described as a 9.0 earthquake up from 8.9. then that just devastating tsunami that followed. and now we have an unfolding

nuclear crisis at at least one power plant in that country. residents in a wide area surrounding that power plant have been told to either evacuate or stay indoors. and this is the situation that's changing it seems hour by hour. we'll have the latest on that coming up. and then on another note, we're going to turn to personal finance with a look at some of the best money saving apps there are for your smartphone. there's indeed an app from just about everything from helping you save money on gas, travel, food and entertainment. and also ahead, nutritionist joy because e bower is here. time four our diet s.o.s. she's going to answer yourho c until a very much anticipated happy distraction. the royal wedding of prince william and kate middleton. standard we're going to unveil the three finalists for our royal wedding contest and our

winner will get an all expense paid trip to london. it's you and two guests, so three people. >> should be interesting. first, let's go inside. savannah guthrie is standing by at the news desk. good morning to all of you. we begin with the deepen iing tragedy in japan. ann, good morning. >> good morning to you, savannah. that's right. even with without the nuclear threat, japan's crisis here is already deepening with a 2,500 confirmed deaths and 15,000 people considered missing. and another terrible discovery today. along japan's coast, a grim task. troops working steadily to recover a report 2,000 bodies that began washing ashore today. also today, we saw our first

convoy of military vehicles in the the ravaged area. this while much of the country and the world focus on the safety of the nation's nuclear power plants while people living near the puck sheifukushima nuk reactors are being scanned for radiation. with limited access to tv, news or newspapers with, these women tell me they know little about what is happening. what do you know is happening at the nuclear power plant? this woman says there are no instructions. we've just been told not to go outside. in the coastal town of minamisanriku where nearly half the residents have disappeared, hope is fleeting. >> translator: my daughter was washed away. i don't know what to say. i hope my daughter is still alive somewhere. >> since the u.s. navy delivered supplies on sunday, more than 90 countries have now offered aid, much of which has yet to get to

the victims. an early tally by the american red cross shows that as of monday, $23 million in donations have been offered to help japan. tokyo, one of the world's largest cities and a financial hub of asia has been paralyzed with trains out of service and major stores closed. and japan's stock market lost 13% of its value as big companies like toyota announced they would be closed until thursday, at least. everyone watches and waits for miracles like this four-month-old survivor from the village of ichinomachi. pulled from the rubble three days after she went missing now reunited with her father. and late today, there was even more good news. a 70-year-old woman who was in a house that was pushed by the tsunami was actually found suffering from hypothermia, but alive, and she is now being treated in a hospital, savannah. so in a country that needs good

news, that is certainly a welcome one. thank you very much. now back to you. >> ann curry in one of the hardest hit areas of japan, thank you, ann. the u.s. is warning against travel to bahrain this morning as violence clashes escalate between police and antimonarchy protesters there. the white house is urging saudi arabia to show restraint in the region. moammar gadhafi's air .ground campaign is driving deeper into rebel held eastern libya, pounding a town near the opposition capital of benghazi. in the meantime, diplomacy efforts are ramping up, as well. secretary of state hillary clinton met with a high ranking leader in paris last night to discuss how much support if any the u.s. will provide in the fight for gadhafi's ouster. back here, a luxury coach bus traveling from new york china town to philadelphia crashed on the new jersey

turnpike killing two people on board. this as new the details emerge in saturday's tour bus crash in the bronx that killed 15 people. state officials say the driver in saturday's massive crash had a suspended license, multiple traffic violations and a conviction for man slaughter. the governor of new york is investigating how he was allowed to drive at the time of that accident. the press secretary for mississippi governor haley barber resigned last night after making jokes about japan. and former attorney general janet reno an e-mailed memo. dan turner said he didn't want his remarks to reflect on his boss, a possible candidate for the republican nomination for president. and insurance giant aflac has fired comedian gilbert gottfreid as the voice of its mascot because of jokes he mete made about japan on twitter. it's now six minutes past the hour.

back to matt. >> all right, savannah, thank you very much. let's get a check of the weather from mr. roker over in the corner of the plaza here. >> all right. thank you very much. you love new york. where are you guys from? >> texas. >> we love texas. thanks so much. let's check your weather and see what's happening. again, this is the latest on japan's weather. they have ahead of that front temperatures -- winds coming out of the east and that's onshore. but the good news is, once that system moves through, the winds will shift offshore. so any sort of radiation release would get blown out to sea and that's good news. it continues on into thursday with gusting westerly winds both in well, we're starting to get a bit of a break from the shower activity that's been relentless all morning long. we're seeing a break along the peninsula and the only showers that are really coming down are mostly to the east of livermore in the foot hills. if i widen out for you you see there is more rain on the way. we're expecting it to arrive, the heavy rain into the north bay by about noon.

sliding south by about 5:00 p.m. the entire bay area will be wet today and the whole thing clears out of here by about 11:00. temperatures today will be pretty mild. 63 degrees in freemont. 62 in san jose. that's your latest weather. natalie? ♪ >> al, thank you. this morning on joy's diet s.o.s., answers to your daily diet dilemmas. joy bauer is here with tips on everything from staying fit to bring parties to breaking a nasty diet soda addiction. >> great questions. >> we have kerry in new york joining us live via skype. what's your question? >> good morning. with spring around the corner i have a bunch of weddings, showers and bachelorette parties coming up. can you give me tips on how to stay on my healthy eating path so i can fit into my lime green bridesmaids dress. >> i love that.

first, be diligent with exercise. i want you to aim for at least 30 minutes on most days throughout the entire wedding season. the extra activity will give you wiggle room with the room when you get to those events. when you get to each and every event you will follow my rule of one. that means you can have one of each delicious appetizer, one plate of food, fill it with whatever you want. one slice of cake or other dessert. keep your portions in check and you now get to enjoy all of the featured goodies without feeling deprived or going overboard. watch the alcohol. you want to alternate every cocktail with water or a club soda with lime. stick with the most slimming option. definitely hit the dance floor. if you groove on the dance floor for an hour you could burn over 400 callericalories.

kick off your heels and shake your booty. do you dance? >> sounds good. i love to dance. >> then dance, dance, dance. >> something tells me you will snag yourself a groom in the process. >> maybe! >> good luck. thank you very much, kerry. next, we have beth on the phone with us from new york. good morning. what's your question for joy? >> good morning. i am completely addicted soda. i drink it all day long. i have tried to stop but always get vicious migraine headaches and go right back to drinking it. i know i would feel better and less bloated if i gave it up. do you have ideas how to quit? >> it's a common problem. >> and it makes sense. you feel bloated from the carbonation and the reason you get the headaches are most likely from caffeine withdrawal. all of the diet soda has caffeine. so i want you to follow a two-phase strategy. during the first phase, starting today, each day allow yourself

only one to two diet sodas. don't use them at meals because your taste buds are satisfied from the food. save the first for between lunch and dinner. then only if you need it, have a second one at some later point in the day. at the same time when you wake up in the morning have a cup of tea -- either green or black. not just because it's healthy but it has about the same amount of caffeine as a diet soda. you can have more cups throughout the rest of the day. that will offset the headaches. phase two kicks in. you decide after a week if you want to completely give up the diet soda and this is a very personal decision. you have already done major damage control. don't feel bad if you keep a small daily dose in your life. it's fine. >> not cold turkey, but a phased plan. good luck, beth. that's a tough one. >> good luck. >> thank you. bye-bye. >> next we have a great viewer e-mail from lori in

pennsylvania. she writes, i have read buying organic produce, especially for the dirty dozen, is healthier for my family but it's not in my budget to buy this expensive produce. is it better to avoid the dirty dozen if i can't afford the organic version? just to clarify, the dirty dozen, joy? >> it's the 12 produce items with the highest amount of pesticide residue. people can get it online by going to food news.org. if you can't afford all organic produce it's worth the effort to buy these 12. also look in the freezer section because you can get frozen bags of organic cherries, berries and spinach. if you can't afford any organic -- and a lot of families fall into this reality. please don't stop eating produce. the benefits in conventional produce far outweigh any of the negatives. just be diligent with washing

and vary your fruits and vegetables. try to focus on the ones not in the dirty dozen like bananas, grapefruit, oranges. >> shop the local farm stands. you can find better deals and it's fresh off the farm. >> seasonal items are always more affordable. >> all right. joy bauer as always, thank you. great information. up next on today's royal treatment we meet the three finalists vying for a chance to head to london during the week of the royal wedding. plus, later on, yes, there is an app for that. how to save money with your smart phone. that's after these messages. [ female announcer ] smooth. like you've never felt before. ♪ touch of smoothness body wash with new hydra iq, nivea's latest breakthrough in skincare technology. provides moisture throughout the day with no greasy feel. beautiful moments are born in the shower.

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[ cackling ] he's my ride home. how much can the snapshot discount save you? call or click today. other the last few weeks we have been telling you about the "today's royal treatment" contest to send a viewer and guest to london during the wedding. we are going to reveal the finalists. >> al is on the edge of his seat. first is mary baker from rapid city, south dakota. >> my husband and i would love to fly over the great blue sea to the land of compact cars to be treated like royalty. so please, i beg of you today, i need some grown-up time. plus, i really love weddings and to be there would be sublime.

i'll say it in my best accent and maybe i'll regret it. please, please, send us to britain and i promise we'll never forget it! >> okay. she can work on the accent. she's a stay at home mom and wrote, i'm tired of staycations. >> she's a good one. next finalist is from ohio. let's take a look at megan's video. >> hi, i'm megan red. this is my son max. we're going to tell you why my sister molly and max's aunt deserves to win a trip to london for the royal wedding. >> one of the reasons we think molly is so special is what she does for a living. she's a child life specialist for the cleveland clinic. she works with kids who are ill and their families. when molly graduated from ohio university her gift from my mom was that she was going to help molly save up for her dream vacation, a trip to london.

unfortunately, her student loan debt just sort of began piling and piling up. so this dream trip has been put on the back burner. >> oh, megan wants her sister molly and mom colean to go to london. >> that's nice. >> very sweet. >> our last finalist is from littleton, colorado. pamela rail's video. >> she was one woman with one dream. >> my dream is to attend the royal wedding. i've been a fan of princess diana since i was 7. ♪ >> we're here to stop you from fulfilling your dream. >> i don't think so. >> go right ahead. >> one woman, one dream. >> hello "today" show. thank you for letting me submit

a video for the royal treatment. please pick me! >> i love it. >> i loved that. >> she named her cat after princess diana. >> she wants to bring her son named andrew with her. >> tough contestants. that will be a hard one. >> none of the finalists has ever been to london. head to today.com to vote for the finalist you think deserves an all expenses paid trip to england including two first class tickets on british airways to london during the week of the wedding of kate middleton and prince william. you have until thursday, 3:00 p.m. eastern to vote. >> tomorrow you will get to meet all three finalists live and hear why they think they deserve your vote. we'll announce the winner this friday. >> meanwhile, coming up on "today," the bathroom of the future. first, these messages.

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his family knows what to expect. hun, mike's coming -- let's get crackin'. [ male announcer ] but what mike rowe doesn't know is that his parents have armed themselves with unquilted viva® towels. place looks great. [ male announcer ] mike doesn't know that every concentrated viva roll is made of strong, fiber packed sheets, making it one tough towel. but his mom sure does. wow, for me? you shouldn't have. i insist. [ male announcer ] hey, if viva can handle mike rowe's mess, just think what it can do in your home. grab a roll for yourself and grasp the unquilted difference. [ female announcer ] there's a place called hidden valley where kids not only eat their vegetables, they can't get enough. ♪ hidden valley ranch, makes vegetables delectable. coming up, the greatest apps for saving money. most are free, you would hope. >> and the hottest fashion trends from the past that you will be wearing in the present. hopefully not b

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good morning to you. it is 9:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. thousands of people are fleeing south headed to tokyo. the city is already dealing with shortages at gas stations, grocery stores, and drug stores. today on the bay is in tokyo. >> reporter: if you saw the people leaving at the train station, they're concerned, and we captured that. you saw that and heard that. people are concerned for their children and their pets. many bringing their pets with them as an indication that they want to leave. everyone else seems to be business as usual, trying to get on with their lives but, you know, with this threat of radiation in the air they may be rethinking that. we probably expect as this continues maybe even tomorrow we may see more people leaving

tokyo. >> george is one of the only bay area reporters in tokyo. you can see his latest report on nbc bay area tonight at 5:00 and 6:00. thousands have no one and nowhere to turn to in the quake-ravaged japan but a few lucky families have been able to make it out of the island nation if only for a short time. for miko it was tears of sadness and relief. she said she is relieved her friend jan is allowing her and two two daughters to live with them in the east bay until it is safe to go home. she said people are afraid of earthquakes and possible ex-potion from the nuclear power plant in japan. her husband had a ticket to come with his family but decided to stay in japan to help the government. japan earthquake being felt by bay area car dealers. toyota and honda have suspended production for at least a week which will impact shipment of some of the most popular cars

like prius. this accounts for half of new car sales locally. japan has a number of car plants in north america but the majority of parts needed are shipped from the country. quick break right now. be right back. never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. 60 miles compared to what a cancer patient goes through is a walk in the park. from the moment i registered, people started immediately supporting me and asking me how they could help. you meet the most wonderful, inspiring people. when you accomplish those 60 miles,

it's truly life-changing. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. good morning. welcome back. still a little slow approaching the bay bridge toll plaza on the east shore tollway. northbound 880 very slow coming past the coliseum. starting to thin out from san leandro but still a 20-minute drive from 238 up to the maze. that'll take you back to the south bay with minor slowing and the accident sounds like it's clearing.

♪ the one, the only divine miss m., bette midler. she's headed to broadway again. this time her name is above the title as producer of "priscilla queen of the desert." she'll be here coming up friday on "today." >> i have heard good things about it. >> meanwhile, coming up in this half hour, the bathroom of the future. >> sounds exciting. >> what does that mean? >> it's not what you think maybe. from a home laser hair removal system to a showerhead.

just what al wants. >> that's what i need. >> to a shower with hot water warning lights. you can transform your bathroom into a spa. what options to modernize your spa. >> that was a two-way mirror. >> i thought it was a tv. >> they're upset because they haven't seen a toilet. it's part of the future. and how today's technology can help you save money from cheap eats to designer bags. special applications that find the bargains for you. >> cool. some of your old favorites are back and hotter than ever. from '50s chic to '80s color we have trendy flashbacks. there's one. like the glasses? you get in the sunlight right and you burn leaves. i had laser vision. >> the ants would hide. you have a check of the weather

for us. >> i'm proud of that suit in the '70s. came with two pairs of pants and a reversible vest. 80 combinations. today, heavy rain in the pacific northwest. storm system out of the south bringing rain there. more rain to the northeast later this afternoon. sunny and warm from the rockies into the southwest. tomorrow we've got rain in the northeast in new england. more rain in the pacific northwest with mountain snows. southern states sunny and warm. even nice and hot in the southwest. temperatures approaching 80. well, we'll be approaching 60 degrees a little bit later. not too cold for us today. we have a sub tropical moisture tap making things so warm but this morning we've seen quite a bit of shower activity pass through the bay area. as a result, your highways are on the slick side. the good news is we'll get a bit of a break before our next round of showers moves into the north bay at about noon some pretty heavy rainfall anticipated. 5:00 p.m. a wet drive home. temperatures today in the 60s.

60 degrees in oakland and 62 degrees in redwood city. and that's your latest weather. >> thank you, al. up next, how to turn your boring bathroom into an at-home spa with all the latest futuristic gadgets. we'll be right back after this. like many chefs today, i feel the best approach to food is to keep it whole for better nutrition. and that's what they do with great grains cereal. see the seam on the wheat grain? same as on the flake. because great grains steams and bakes the actual whole grain. now check out the other guy's flake. hello, no seam. because it's more processed. now, which do you suppose has better nutrition for you? mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal. what was i thinking? but i was still skating on thin ice with my cholesterol. anyone with high cholesterol may be at increased risk of heart attack. diet and exercise weren't enough for me. i stopped kidding myself.

i've been eating healthier, exercising more and now i'm also taking lipitor. if you've been kidding yourself about high cholesterol, stop. lipitor is a cholesterol-lowering medication, fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. lipitor is backed by over 18 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant, or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. let's go! [ laughs ] if you have high cholesterol you may be at increased risk of heart attack and stroke. don't kid yourself. talk to your doctor about your risk and about lipitor.

talk to your doctor about your risk my old contacts would sometimes move and blur my vision. then my eye doctor told me about acuvue® oasys for astigmatism. he said it's the only lens of its kind designed to realign naturally with every blink so now, i'm seeing more clearly. [ male announcer ] learn more at acuvue.com. happy birthday to you. happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. this morning on "today's beauty," the bathroom of the future. forget trips to the spa and

dermatologist's office. with do it yourself treatments on the rise you can soon outfit your bathroom with the latest in beauty technology. linda wells of allure magazine is here. good morning. >> good morning. >> we think of the bathroom as a functional room. >> it hasn't changed much in 75 years. >> but you say it may. >> it will be a cross between a spa and a dermatologist's office. there is all kinds of new things on the horizon like wipe-on botox at home. so you don't need injections at the doctor's office. things like the brazilian blowout that's safe. all kinds of machines and lights to get rid of acne, rosacea. the possibilities are exciting. >> you may never need to leave the bathroom. this is a uv blocking window. i was shocked to read that wrinkles of people just by windows were 26% larger. >> right. we all think you need need to wear sunscreen unless you're at the beach, but you get sun

through windows at the office, at home. doctors know when you drive to and from work by the number of wrinkles and brown spots on the left side of the face. the airplane is particularly bad because it's the altitude and light. so make sure the shade is down. there is a new separate and apart glass coming out that protects against 99% of the uva and uvb rays which causes the damage. it can be put in offices and homes and apartment buildings. it also turns dark. >> you can use it at the push of a button. >> the next one is the at-home laser hair removal. this is exciting but scary. >> it is a little scary. this is from tria. they have an at-home laser not as powerful as the one at the dermatologist's office. it's slower, not as effective but it's a good alternative.

you can use it once every two weeks for a few months and go back over it as your hair grows. eventually it kills the hair follicle and you don't have any more hair. this will get better and better. >> i hope it comes with good directions. >> it's very protected. it's good. >> our next item toothbrushes sans toothpaste. >> they have a solar panel on the bottom. when you put it under water the ians a ions are activated. it's great for travel. >> so it's light that remove it is plaque. people want the fresh feeling. does it have that? >> it's not the same. i think people really like the taste of toothpaste in a way that makes you feel fresh. this will kill the bacteria and will have the same effect, but not the sensation. people may not want to get rid of the toothpaste yet.

>> or maybe use mouthwash. this is an exciting idea. this gives you a 3-d image of yourself. >> right. this is a 3-d imageer from vectra 3-d. this is coming to plastic surgeons and dermatologists office and will show you what your face lksik from angles. >> do we wan to know? >> i know. it also shows under the skin. so it shows impending sun damage that hasn't shown yet and the way fat has moved around as you have mirror. maybe you don't want to see it. i don't. but it could be transmitted to your dermatologist to monitor moles and aging. it could be a health benefit. >> we have two items left. >> edible sunscreen. this is helio care. sunscreen that's a tablet you take that protects your skin against sun damage. it isn't as powerful yet but one day we will have one.

e' w wllavee showerhead -- this exists now. it's the magic showerhead. it tells you the temperature of the water. so you know if it's white, it's cold, red is hot, blue it's warm. you don't have to run the water forever. it's more efficient. >> and attractive, too. linda, thank you so much. coming up next, money saving apps on everything from designer handbags to air travel. we'll tell you what the best es are after these messages.

is the best part of stouffer's lasagna. the tomatoes i grow are the best part. distinctive, beautiful rich cheese. delicious tomatoes. can't have lasagna without cheese. that's a perfect looking tomato. my cheese. tomatoes. cheese. tomatoes. cheese. [ horn honks ] these whole grains of mine put a whole new spin on lasagna. [ female announcer ] introducing new stouffer's farmers' harvest meals. made with select farm-picked ingredients. the same great taste your family loves now with the goodness of whole grains... and no preservatives. find more ways to get your family to the table at letsfixdinner.com.

[ laughs ] not funny. act my age? -why? -why? -why? i love the sun. past sun goddess. every line has a story. [ female announcer ] we all age differently. now there's roc multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. a lifetime of stress lines, sun damage, and worry wrinkles will fade in just 4 weeks. -crows feet... -belong on birds. [ female announcer ] roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. -aging... -bring it on. don't suffer waiting for your pills to kick in. add alaway. for fast eye itch relief that works in minutes and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from bausch & lomb. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. i mean they're rewards, right? right? right. with the bankamericard cash rewards™ credit card... i get 1% cash back on every purchase. 1% cash back on groceries. highlights. frog leg green. 1% cash back on... whatever that is?

and there is no limit to the amount of cash back you can earn. no expiration on rewards. no hoops to jump through. -simple. -i love this card. looove it. [ male announcer ] the refreshingly simple bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you. this morning on "today's money" apps for the smart phone to save you a bundle. planning a vacation, looking for an inexpensive place for dinner? "money" magazine has their favorite apps and most are free. good morning, beth. >> good morning. >> how did you find these? >> there are tens of thousand out there. we had three journalists spend two weeks downloading everything and testing it. these are the one wes thought were the best money-related apps to download. >> everyone's looking for the

cheapest gas. gas buddy.com. >> it's fantastic. basically it's a huge community of 1.4 million users across the country that share information of which gas station in your neighborhood has the best prices. none of the prices are more than 24 hours old. if i go two blocks further i can save several dollars on my tank. >> maybe you're taking a flight, family vacation, spring break looking for cheap tickets which is getting harder and harder. you like kayak. >> a lot of people used the website. it's for rental cars and hotels and flights. the great thing about the app is it has the functionality of the website. say you are stuck at the airport, you need a hotel room. boom, you're done. >> groupon is interesting. it's now spreading across the country. >> a hundred cities. it's huge. >> i have tried groupon and got no deals i really like. you say it's best for

restaurants. >> it's ale little hit or miss. you get ten deals a day. but maybe you're not interested in sushi. but it's worth signing up for. >> once you have gone to the restaurant and it's time to tip your waiter, you have an app for that. >> people say to use your math in your brain for that, but tip calculators make it easy if you have a lot of people in the party, some are drinking and some aren't. cool tip calculator for that. >> you like shopping. guilt is good. gilt? >> it's a members only flash sales site. the sales start at noon. say you're stuck in a meeting. you can have the blackberry under the table and bid on stuff. >> our stage manager leslie is nodding. this explains why she disappears during the show. and red laser? >> that's my favorite. it's an amazing shopping app. say you're at an electronics

store. you aim your camera at the bar code. it tells you where that item is available for cheaper. maybe it's an amazon.com for cheaper. show your phone to the store manager and say, hey, it's $35. >> can you beat this price? >> right. >> cool. if you're on a tight budget, managing money, mint.com. >> you input your credit card number, et cetera. it categorizes spending for you. you have set up levels like, i'm only allowed to spend so much on eating out. once you hit that level it tells you, no more drinks for you. >> it's like mom in your phone. nice. we're not advocating speeding, but there is a nice app if you want to know where speed traps are. >> trapster. we tested it on trips from new york city to maine. >> you have gotten up to 90 miles per hour. >> it tells you where the traps are and where road hazards are. it's shared among users.

so you can benefit from other drivers' experience. >> pretty good. tell me about this one. >> have you ever forgotten a bill? they are all due at different times. mortgage on the 15th and utility on the -- another time. you can set up a reminder three days or two days before. you will never forget again. >> and if you're low on cash, atm hunter. >> that's a great one. if you're traveling it tells you where the closest atm is. it tells you which is in your network to avoid fees. >> great apps. coming up next, fashion flashbacks. updating your wardrobe with a blast from the past. first this is "today" on nbc.

flashback fashions and styles bring newest styles of

days gone by. your wardrobe can feel cutting ed edge. good morning. >> hi. >> fashion goes retro. here we are repeating the old. >> the funny thing is fashion went futuristic last season. it's nice to see they are going back to the retro archives, bringing things from the past. the key is to make them more modern. >> new and fresh. >> only for $100 bucks. >> that's our price point. first, audrey hepburn. she was classic '50s, defined the cigarette pant look. this never goes out of style. it's back. >> prior to the '50s we only saw the men's trouser from catherine hepburn. this was the big style. the cigarette pant. sandra dee, marilyn monroe were

always in this style and after last season's harem pant this is a nice change. >> a nice defined look. let's bring out our model. we have melanie who has a more modern trend on the pant. you have a great heel with it. >> this is a great pair of pants from talbot's. $69 with a nice slim silhouette. the celebrities wore it with flats. let's make it modern with colorful pumps. $99. it makes a statement. >> what kind of top do you wear? >> because it's narrow in the bottom you want to balance it out with a fuller top. you can wear a cropped jacket, blousy top. bring in the gold to modernize it. all the jewelry from ann taylor. >> thank you, melanie. over to the poster girl, the lady with the halter dress

signature of the '70s. >> discotime. >> right. all you think about is jeri hall, bianca jagger, studio 54. they loved the halter-style dresses. they wore the metallics, looked flashy. to bring it into 2011, make it more beachy. think of a nice color. >> whitney, come on out -- becky, rather. sorry. >> this is victoria's secret, $79. i have to say the halter dress is one of the most universally flattering silhouettes on all women. >> looks great on her. >> whatever your shape and size, that's a great look. think of the floppy hat. another amazing '70s trend. $30 from jc penney. >> you look great. thanks, becky. sticking with the '70s still, you can put your jegings away. i never liked that word anyway. now the bell bottoms are back.

>> women will be so happy. they balance out the hips better. >> so flattering. >> the stylish stars like katie holmes, january jones, jessica alba have been wearing them. they're back. >> whitney, come on out. this is the modern look. >> yes. gap, $69. >> looks great. >> when wearing bell bottoms you want to keep a structured top. pick the peasant look. you don't want to be too retro. >> and heels, too. >> great heels on, these khaki ones. keep it modern with heels and a military bag. >> you look wonderful. thank you, whitney. now to the '80s. princess diana, of course. the bright pink, fuscia. we saw a lot of bright colors. it's being brought back to the present. >> you really want to pick one piece that's neon. we have a great look to show

you. >> come on out, my dear. >> this is from tommy hilfiger, this skirt. >> cute. >> it's fun. you can have a great time with it. look at the nails. >> nail polish, yeah. >> or shoes. >> u.s. just grab the press on nails and add color to it. you can always add another pop of color with the shoe. >> i wouldn't combine too many. >> don't do too much. overboard. you look great, jill. thank you. finally, the '80s lace. nobody did it like madonna. i don't think anybody can do lace like madonna. >> she went to the oscars channelling her inner '80s with the lace dress. >> absolutely right. let's see what 2011 looks like with andrea. >> it's back in a major way. it's very romantic, not as aggressive as in the '80s. this top is american apparel. >> there are fun accessories, too. the wayfarer sunglasses, huge.

madonna in "desperately seeking susan" and the jelly bracelets have been modernized. make it elegant. >> don't go overboard. or you could be a fashion disaster. thank you so much. guys, coming up, who do we have? >> tedd

good morning to you. 9:56 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. testimony continues today in the deanzea rape civil trial. the victim told the jury yesterday the alleged gang rape ruined every aspect of her life.

she remembers the party that took place at a home in san jose but nothing else afterwards except waking up in a hospital. lawyers for the two men on trial will cross examine her today. in 2007 criminal charges were dropped by the santa clara district attorney citing nearly everyone involved had been drinking. today is the deadline for teachers and administrators around the state to receive pink slips. many districts have already cut music, librarians, and counselors. some might now cut off a week of the school year to make ends meet. others like the mount diablo school district are closing campuses. hundreds of pink slips have gone out across the bay area but just because a teacher gets a pink slip is not a guarantee they will be fired. if the money is there, they could still have a job by the fall. education leaders are not taking the cuts lying down. they are calling today red tuesday. there will be protests all over the bay area including burlinga burlingame, oakland, and san bruno. right now we want to check the forecast with christina. >> good morning to you. well, the showers are really starting to clear out of the

area. we're just left with a little bit of activity just to the east of livermore and mostly over the foothills pushing over the mountains there. as we head throughout the afternoon today we are going to see a nice break but then the rain will be back as we head into probably about 5:00 p.m. tonight. that's when we expect it to really start to settle into the bay area again, the main portion of the bay area, but it will start up in the north bay by about noon. the whole thing clears out as we head out about 11:00 p.m. tonight. our temperatures will end up in the 60s. 63 degrees today in freemont. let's check your drive with mike. >> 85 is cleared. the rest of the south bay moving better. the bay bridge shows a lighter backup as well but the metering lights are still on at the toll plaza and as you come across the bridge at the golden gate bridge as well. see what we can see. there is the bay bridge. the backup is getting out of there. we'll send it back to you. >> thank you very much. we'll be back with another local news update in about a half hour. the "today" show returns in about a minute. have a great tuesday morning. nothing worked on my eczema until cortizone-10 intensive healing eczema lotion. the poweof cortizone-10 plus restora helps heal my symptoms.

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"today" with kathie lee gifford and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hey, everybody, it's booze-day tuesday, march 15, 2011. today's guest host is bravo's andy cohen, and he is helping us out while kathie lee is taking time off to show cassidy some schools in the west coast. by the way, andy is a snapper. >> i snap with the wrong finger. i snap with my second finger. >> with your third. that's your third. one, two, three. >> wherever you're counting, i don't know. okay. >> hi. >> hi. >> he's been very busy.

>> i have been very busy. i haven't been getting a ton of sleep. i think sleep is overrated. i hosted something last night for the ncc theater company of their big misscaps gala. nobody wants to hear from the host of those things, so i just bombed horribly. >> what do you mean? >> just people talking, people don't want to hear -- you know? >> you know what's hard, when you're in a huge room and you're emceeing an event, everybody wants to socialize. >> who can blame them? >> you know what quiets a crowd. into the mic, go, shhhhh. it's the only thing that works. >> but if you spend that time quieting a crowd, you are presuming what you have to say is something they really want to

hear. so i just kind of plowed through, thinking, i don't know if they really want to hear -- you know what i mean? >> yes. >> it is booze-day tuesday. that's hilarious. >> it is booze-day tuesday. you had a couple issues. i don't know if you saw andy yesterday with his dad -- >> my dad joined me yesterday morning when i was on this fine show. but we were running around town, and we had such a great weekend. we went to see "spiderman" on friday night, which was not great, but that's another story. saturday we went to the rehearsal of "saturday night live" which was great. my nephew was in town, so i was trying to give him a great new york weekend. and then sunday we went to the knicks game and i had a show. sunday morning, we were in midtown. we go to the brooklyn diner, i show up to meet my parntsents. they're in front and i say, what's going on?

they don't serve breakfast after 11:30. what are you talking about? it's a diner in new york city. you must be wrong, evelyn cohen, my mother. so i go into the diner and i say to the guy -- clearly my mother has misunderstood. of course you serve breakfast. and they said, no, not after 11:30. until you get seated, it will be 11:30. we are an upscale diner. i essentially had a hissy fit in front of everyone in the diner, started tweeting, went crazy. because i feel in new york city, one of the plethora of joys in our town is you can get breakfast at any time, usually facilitated by a diner. and by the way, i have nothing against brooklyn diner except they don't serve breakfast after 11:30. they have a great burger, they have a great breakfast. we wanted an omelot.

i was in that mode. i digress. >> what are you going to do wednesday night? >> watch bethany. >> let's stick to this part first. "the bachelor," i got on the train late. a week and a half ago is when i got started. i did not like the bachelor at all. >> people did not care for brad womack. >> when you watched him making out, loving the family, loving the daughter of one of the girls and then making out, loving the family -- it just seemed so disingenuous. >> doesn't that happen on every season? >> i don't care. this one bothered me more than any other and i thought, who is he going to choose? i thought, please don't choose the girl with the daughter because i was worried for her. he chose her. >> but i hear that on the after the rose broadcast --

>> let's watch him propose. go. >> okay. >> emily, please make me happier than i've ever been in my life and marry me. >> okay, i have like a combo feeling afterwards. listen to this. i did get a little weepy after i saw it even though i don't like him. but -- >> who made the ring? >> you know who didn't get weepy. >> who? >> she didn't seem to get that weepy. she just was right there, she had the ring, and then -- >> gorgeous hands. >> look. dry eye. dry eye. that's not good. that is not a good sign. >> and a kiss on the cheek? excuse me. >> they already made out. >> okay. >> after the rose thing, which i kind of fell asleep during, but apparently -- >> not a good sign, ever. >> she didn't have herring rin

and they had to size it and things, but apparently she's having issues. >> if you're having issues before it even happens, pull out, it's over. right? >> i wonder if guys are like that, though, when they're two-timing. you know what i mean? like when a guy dates two girls -- this is like he did a window into seeing and actually talking and saying beautiful things to two different people, and it's so unnerving. >> i can't imagine being emily and watching how he was carrying on the day before with the other one's family. >> chantal. >> that's upsetting. chantal. >> he just told hershey's not chosen. look. >> look at her. >> this is genuine, her whole reaction. she said she couldn't believe that she was so wrong, and she felt all those feelings and he didn't feel anything for her. look at this.

gag. >> that is humiliating. >> oh, and look at that hug. >> i got to say something about brad. he's got very nice hair. i like the color, i like the cut. i do. >> i know. but here's the thing, this is my prediction. it doesn't look like this marriage will last or even happen, because -- >> no! >> i'm just trying to make a statement here, guest host. >> sorry, sorry. >> be clear. but, anyway, so i don't think it's going to last. >> i don't, either. i think you're right, hoda, and i think that's insightful. i do. >> you're trouble. >> norks i, i'm not. >> here's a question, though. here's a guy that went on one of these bachelor parties. the guy with his bachelor buddies and he has sex with a dancer, whatever you want to

call -- oh, god, we're showing him and everything. >> that's the guy? we're really hanging him out there. all right. so he -- right. he had sex with this woman. >> allegedly. >> allegedly, now that we've shown the picture. >> continue, yes. >> i'm sorry; i'm stepping all over you here. >> go. >> the fiancee has now found texts on his phone from the woman that he allegedly hooked up with, and now she is suing him. they're both lawyers. they were supposed to get married. he admits making out with a girl in vegas. and four weeks before the wedding, he tells his fiancee he didn't want to marry her, and she is now suing him -- >> because she spent money on the place, the dress, the bri s bridesmaids, the honeymoon. she's suing for $15,800.

>> she just wants her money that she put into all this. >> here's the question, even though that's all sad for whatever happened. when men have bachelor parties -- and i'm going to ask you -- when men have bachelor parties, are they really having sex with these dancers, or are they just with their buddies and laughing and carrying on? >> i think it depends on the guy, of course, and i think if you're really -- the bachelor parties i've been to, my guy friends have been so in love with their women that it hasn't even been -- >> the woman they're going to marry, you mean. >> right, with the woman they're going to marry, it hasn't even been a question if they're going to sleep with this person. i think getting a lap dance, stuff like that, that's legal. that's part of the fun. but i think if you can be goaded into sleeping with someone by your friends, then maybe -- and by the way, maybe it's a little red flag about what could be to come in the marriage if you're doing it a month before you get

married. i don't know. if you were engaged, and the guy -- you knew in the bottom of your heart that the guy loved you, and you and the guy went to a bachelor party and he fooled around with an exotic dancer, would you forgive him? >> i would be extremely upset. what do you mean by fool around? >> i mean -- >> yeah. >> i have something to say because i often think about, when i look at you and kathie lee, i often think about the two of you -- >> careful. careful. i don't like where this is going. >> i think how hot you are, and i often wonder if they're hotter than sofia vergara. they're doing a bracket competition. it's like march madness. esquire.com, you can vote between hoda and kathie lee and

sofia figara. i want everyone within the sound of my voice to go to esquire.com and vote for hoda and kathie so you can move to the next level. >> that bathing suit day was a mistake. that was the day you were going to come, remember? >> yes. >> uh-huh. coming up next, we have ted dan son and kristi yamaguchi. they both have something to share. we're going to find out what that is, coming up. and lasts up to 12 hours. only alaway comes from the eye care experts at bausch & lomb. so when allergies strike, add alaway. because it's not just your allergies, it's your eyes. for fast eye itch relief, add alaway. in the eye care aisle. add alaway. these ladies have been exercising, watching their diets and enjoying activia light.

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powers through the toughest clogs . >> for ten years, ted danson played the bartender sam malone on "cheers." roll the tape. >> i'll take a message. >> well? >> you're a magnificent pagan beast. >> thanks. what's the message? >> so my place or yours? >> i have a roommate.

>> yours it is. you know, i always wanted to pop you one. maybe it's my lucky day, huh? >> you disgust me. i hate you. >> are you as turned on as i am? >> more. >> all day long, we could watch those clips. all day long. >> i do at home. you may have known ted won two emmys for that role, but what you may not know is that he's one of the world's leading ocean conservationist. and he's taken what he learned and put it in a new book called "oceana, our endangered oceans and what we can do to save them." >> we'll get to the book in a second. i just like chatting with you. what's it like watching those old clips? >> i laugh. i love it. i am so visually so far away from those years that it's new to me. it's like if you wait long enough and get old enough, you're like, i have no idea what i'm going to do.

>> how many did you make? >> 260-some. >> i'm sure it is new because you made so many. who do you still keep in touch with from the cast? >> i try not to see woody. george i'll stay away from. i see them all periodically. rhea perhaps more than george and woody. i bump into them at an event here and there, and i haven't seen them in a while. i'm embarrassed i didn't see his show which i heard he's great. >> he was unbelievable. did you see "the real wives of beverly hills." >> i saw two of them. i am only watching because of my friend. >> i love that. >> what did you think of the show? >> great show, great show. very entertaining. i went to church afterwards, but i enjoyed it. >> i'm wondering -- look, you were the mainstay of this huge show on nbc for 12 years. as you watched this whole

charlie sheen thing play out between he and cbs, what went through your mind just from a business perspective? >> i'm not a goodie two-shoes, but i swear i don't watch that. i've met him, i know him. it's sad. i don't know him as a friend, but i've admired him over the years. so i stay back. i don't watch. >> let's talk a little bit about your book. how did sam malone become aqua man? when did this become your thing, the ocean? >> why should we watch this sam malone talk about fish? at the height of "cheers," i think i felt a little guilty about the amount of money coming my way. i realized i should do something with it. the amount of money that comes your way as a celebrity, if you don't deflect it and use it for something, you're like that five-year-old kid in the room with all the adults focusing on him and you spin out. speaking of which.

not you, not you. the charlie thing. so koicoincidence led me to oce. i was walking with my kids on the beach. they were eight and four, and there was a big sign, no swimming, water polluted. and i had no idea how to explain what was going on. and i learned more. >> you have some scary what-ifs in your book. you said if changes don't happen by 2050, the great barrier reef will be dead, places will be under water, and within the next century, the only seafood left to eat will be jellyfish. are these really scary, way out there scenarios? >> they are scary, and they're way out in that if you don't stop doing what you're doing, it is conceivable we could be eating jellyfish soon. but it does not have to go that way. this is a hey, this is

important. we are at a tipping point with our oceans and the book explains why. but it does not have to go that way. here's what the world needs to do about it and here's what you can do about it, so hopefully for me it's an uplifting book. you can know, in probably your children's lifetime, whether or not we succeeded in turning the tide. that's exciting. it's positive. it's not overwhelming. >> ted, thank you. thanks a lot. interesting read the book, too. thanks for chatting about everything. >> lots of pictures, too. >> pictures, baby. our newest fan of the week will be able to ease into spring. >> plus world champions could see yamaguchi. i really want dessert.ht. i better skip breakfast. yep, this is all i need. [ stomach growls ] [ female announcer ] skipping breakfast to get ahead? research shows that women who eat breakfast, like the special k breakfast,

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his family knows what to expect. hun, mike's coming -- let's get crackin'. [ male announcer ] but what mike rowe doesn't know is that his parents have armed themselves with unquilted viva® towels. place looks great. [ male announcer ] mike doesn't know that every concentrated viva roll is made of strong, fiber packed sheets, making it one tough towel. but his mom sure does. wow, for me? you shouldn't have. i insist. [ male announcer ] hey, if viva can handle mike rowe's mess, just think what it can do in your home. grab a roll for yourself and grasp the unquilted difference. fortunately, there's senokot-s tablets. senokot-s for occasional constipation associated with certain medications. save $3 right now. go to getconstipationrelief.com. that's why lysol does more with our new stainless look no-touch hand soap system. it fits any decor... and automatically dispenses the perfect amount of soap and kills 99.9% of bacteria. so you'll never touch a germy pump again.

with the lysol no-touch hand soap system, healthy hands are automatic... all over your home. for healthy tips and more, visit lysol.com/ missionforhealth. it is time to surprise one of our devoted viewers at home in our series we call "fan of the week." >> and the very lovely sara

haines is here to announce the lucky winner. who is it? >> without further ado, congratulations to karen -- taryn sisco. she's a crafty mother of two, drives a minivan and loves margaritas. she loves the inspirational stories just like the ups and downs of her life. her favorite is today's talk. she watches kathie lee and hoda because she needs adult time while watching her kids and working from home. so thanks to this amazing fan. we're sending taryn to the jw marriott orlando grand lake in florida for a three-night stay in clucdeluxe accommodations, h and airfare accommodations.

>> we want to thank you for watching, and we love that your kids watch, too, so we'll try to tone down the language. >> i should have warned you ahead of time. but don't forget for your chance. go on our web site for your chance to be the next fan. we're going to meet a woman with a major sweet tooth. she dropped more than 150 pounds on her own. >> kristi yamaguchi's talent flies from her feet to her fingers. >> he's back! pee wee herman. >> pee-wee! my diet? well yesterday i had an apple turnover.

i always keep it in the house. that and boston crème pie, white chocolate strawberries. [ female announcer ] yoplait light -- over 30 delicious flavors at about 100 calories. babe, what are you doing?! ♪ [ announcer ] set. [ gunshot ] [ male announcer ] the plumber just got faster. new liquid-plumr penetrex gel powers through the toughest clogs in just seven minutes.

good morning to you. 10:26 right now. i'm laura garcia-cannon. you can share your concerns over the mayor's budget plan at two meetings today. your thoughts will be accepted at the san jose city council public hearing at the end of the afternoon session today. then during the session at 7:00 tonight. the mayor's plan outlines goals for closing the 105 million dollar budget gap. some of his proposals include retirement reform and benefit changes. the council will vote on that measure next tuesday. silicon valley technology makes it possible for commuters to test the unfinished drive approach to the san jose bridge. the construction engineers will unveil a driving simulator today. drivers grab a steering wheel and step on the gas.

you don't even feel the road. you can test it out at the auto desk gallery at 1 market in san francisco. the $1 billion project is slated to be completed in 2014. want to get paid, not mow your lawn? if you get rid of it all together you could pocket up to $3,000. the alameda county district announced the plan to give rebates to owners who switch to more eco friendly lawns to help reduce some of the water used and of clippings dumpepe od cli in area landfills. we'll take a quick break and be right back.

welcome back. good morning. if you're looking for a break from the rain this is probably your best bet over the next couple hours. showers are starting to thin out in our area. take a look at what is on the way. you see this deep orange and yellow embedded within the green and all of these lightning strikes. this is making its way toward the bay area. it will lose a loto cf1 o organization be in the north bay about noon but still lightning definitely a factor for today. showers continue throughout this evening. let's check your drive right now with mike. >> christina, looking pretty good. east shore freeway still a little slow and eastbound starting to slow more than westbound which is your morning commute. of course we're at midday now. some debris. westbound 24 acalanes orange cones in the road left from construction. keep that in mind. very little backup at the bay bridge toll plaza. there is the san mateo bridge. back to you. >> thank you very much. hope you have a great afternoon. thanks so much for joining us this morning.

the "today" show continues next. we'll see you tomorrow morning starting at 5:00 a.m. we're back on this booze day with more of "today" and right next to me is bravo's andy cohen, who is helping me out while kathie lee is away. how we doing? >> we're doing great. booze day. this is one of those ladies great at everything. olympics champion skater kristi yamaguchi. >> she also won "dancing with the stars." she has two adorable little girls and a handsome husband. she wrote her first children's book called "dream big, little pig." so cute. did you pick up the concepts and the idea?

>> oh, of course. my oldest daughter will say she helped pick the name poppy, so she likes to claim that. there are some parallels in my own life about what poppy experiences. >> it's about a pig who tries different skill sets. >> i read it cover to cover. it took a while, yeah. >> speed reader. >> i like the lessons you're sort of showing along the way. >> i wanted poppy to be positive, inspirational, she does try ballet, she tries singing, modelling, but they don't get that passion going in her, and she sees skating, and there is a spark there. and even with the challenges and the doubters and some of the obstacles, she still keeps at the skating and has her own personal successes. >> did you try other things before you latched onto skating? >> oh, yes. yeah. everything from basketball -- of course, i knew i was going to be too short for that --

gymnastics, ballet, baton twirling. >> and then you discovered skating. >> yeah. >> what did you think about -- what was i going to ask you? i want to know where you keep your medals. >> the medals are actually in the skating museum hall of fame in colorado springs. >> do you get it back, though? >> it's on loan. >> one of the great things about the book is in the back there is a picture of you with your two girls who are just absolutely adorable, and i love the dedication you wrote to your girls, and here it is. to mommy's angels, kyra and emma, you give me more joy than i can express. this is to you in hopes you will excel. i love you. i love that. what kind of dreams do you have for your girls? >> i hope they find their niche like poppy. i hope they try a lot of

different things and find that thing that stokes their fire. obviously, school is number one. >> if they said they want to take up skating, what would you say? >> try something else. they do group classes right now, and they actually have a lot of fun, and i want it to be fun and recreational for them. i do want them to know how to skate and be confident out there, but if competition is not for them, then i'm fine with that. >> have you taught them out to skate? >> what mom can teach their own child? they don't listen to me. but, no, i have them take classes from the rink. >> you have a hottie, hottie husband. >> brett is here now. he'll love you for that. >> brett. did he have any input with this book? >> no, i think he kind of liked to be on the sidelines. he would read through my ideas

and this is the direction, and he enjoyed it. he was definitely supportive. >> he's retired from the national hockey league, right? >> yeah. he retired almost two years ago now. >> well, great. we wish you luck with this book. it's adorable. the illustrations are crazy good. >> who doesn't love a pig on skates? >> he did a wonderful job. a woman with a sweet tooth dropped 154 pounds, and now she's going to share the perfect dessert recipe. the man who never grew up and who wants to? "pee-we "pee-wee" herman is here. ♪ ♪ ♪

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. it is time for "look at me now" and the induction of the newest member. she is a 23-year-old and she dropped an astonishing 154 pounds. right? >> that is unbelievable. >> here's her story. >> my name is christine, and for as long as i can remember, i have always been bigger than the other kids around me. my mom has told me when i was little, i refused to eat anything good for me. it wasn't until it affected my social life that it really became an issue for me. i was never a person people would call to hang out with, i was never the girl that boys wanted to date, i was the fat girl. i viewed food as something i

could count on day in and day out. if i was bored, i ate. if i was sad, i ate. if i was fine, i ate. i was obsessed with food. my obesity consumed my entire life. i spent all day worrying about what situations might come up that might embarrass me. would there be a desk big enough for me? what if i dropped something and had to pick it up? i hated it when i had to walk up a few flights of stairs. all my classmates were fine and i was winded. after college, i knew something had to change. i joined a weight loss community on youtube where i participated in a survivor fitness challenge. >> that's really hard. i made it through the finals and the challenge. so far i have managed to lose 154 pounds. i once thought i was going to be overweight and alone forever. i'm glad to say i was very wrong. i can't wait to see what my future holds. >> wow. we're going to meet christine in just a moment, but first we're going to talk to joy, the leader

of the joy luck club. >> i feel like a housewife. her story is unbelievable, and when she comes out, she looks like a homecoming princess, she really does. you're going to cry. but she has, like any of us, an insa tirks ark insatiable sweet tooth. she loves cinnamon buns, which are well over 800 calories. now what she does is a piece of cinnamon toast with sugar, but it's only 60 calories. it really does it for her. she uses the reduced calorie bread, so i love this one. loves cheesecake. well over 500 calories. she has her own little recipe, but it's only 83 calories. it's fat free cream cheese with nil nilla wafers, a little flour.

>> i can't wait to meet her. should we look at the before pic? i love this story. bring her out! come on out, christine? >> whoa! >> oh, my gosh, look at you! okay. unbelievable. >> you look amazing. >> you really look different. there is just a whole confidence that's coming out. how different do you feel? >> every single day of every moment is different. everything is happier. i love life so much more. >> has your social life changed? >> yes. i don't even understand most situations because i'm not used to being treated the way i'm tre treated. i have more confidence because of it, and it's great. >> how long did it take you to lose all of it? >> 98 pounds i lost in one year, and after that i think the rest, over a year i lost that and --

>> all with exercise and diet. >> yep. eating right. >> no sweets. >> i have a huge sweet tooth. i love cinnamon and cheesecake. >> you were such an inspiration. i'm so glad you did it, and i hope people at home realize that if she could do it, you can do it. go to our web site at kat lee and hoda.com. >> coming up next, we have a surprise for andy. i'm just saying, it's about time. he's going to get a little t ha winin the universe.y. no! no! [ sneezing ]

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one of the most wonderful things about traveling the world is trying the food that is depending on where you travel. >> and as a travel expert, mark

murphy, shot his way through 50 countries, and he was nice enough, i think -- actually, i'm pretty sure not nice -- to bring back some of his most adventurous food finds. it smells not good in this area. >> hi, mark. how are you? >> it doesn't smell good. >> no, it doesn't. in fact, you can only find this in southeast asia. it's called the king of fruits but we're going to call it the king of stink for this episode. they describe the smell as a city landfill in the middle of summer. rotting meat or unwashed socks. >> why would we want that? >> try a little bite. try a bite. go ahead, try a bite. stick the whole thing in your mouth. give it a try. >> is it nasty? >> it smells terrible but it's very sweet. >> go ahead, give it a try. >> that's as much as i'm going to try. >> would you describe the texture? a former british governor described the texture as carion

mixed with custard. >> i am bringing the cinnamon bun with me so i have a chaser. >> what do we have next? this is not your mom's irish stew. my mom is irish. irish stew? i don't think so. this is pig's blood. what they do with the pig is they -- >> i'm a jew. >> sorry about that. kl i get o can i get out of this one? they drain the blood after they kill the pig. they let it congeal, and they chop it up, mix it with chicken and vegetables and make stew. >> let's do the next one. >> both of these are from taiwan. they're from the sheeling night market. just chew away. >> just a little bite. it's bready.

i need a cinnamon bun. very sweet. >> you know what that is? that's called sticky tofu. they take the tofu and put it in a vat with dried shrimp, fermented milk, fermented meat and they dry it for months. when it's really stinky, they can eat it. >> you know what stinks? my mouth. >> this is complements of the autobohn in new orleans where you can go and learn about bugs but you can actually eat them. it's not emeril's but it's a twist on emeril's. try the sauce because the sauce is made with worms. they're not live worms, they're dead. they're cooked. we wanted to give you a little

feel. try this also. that's a wax worm. just do it. >> i'm going to do it, too. for new orleans. >> it's not a big deal. >> gross. is it gross? it's sweet. >> i love it. >> and the last thing. >> why is this fun? >> chocolate chirp cookies. >> chocolate chirp? >> grasshoppers. >> this is not fun. i don't like it. >> the cookie wasn't bad. >> the cookie was fine. it smells in here. >> we're going to party with pee wee herman. that's how we'll wrap it up. >> that's pee wee's reaction. [ female announcer ] here are some great reasons to switch to at&t.

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i know you are but what am i? bring back some memories. the legendary pee wee herman has been really busy with a recent run on bride, an hbo feature that features one of those performances. >> i love it. and now pee wee is turning this studio into a fun house, of course. pee wee, welcome! what did you think about that bug segment? >> gross! >> we saw you afterwards. >> yeah. >> tell us about this -- you got a pretty cool hbo show that's happening, huh? >> yes. yeah, this is -- this broadway production i did was based on a production that i did a long time ago that was also on hbo that began my career. so i rewrote the show along with a lot of other people, and i added all the characters from my cbs television series from a while ago and put it all on the stage and then we filmed it for hbo. it was incredible. home box office, i mean. i get it mixed up.

>> i love this show. i love everything that you do. i saw it and i wondered -- you and miss yvonne -- do you have a little crush on miss yvonne? >> i bit, yeah. but she's kind of taken. she's a little flirty. >> we love your dance. we've been talking about your dance before you got here. andy has been doing your dance. >> i've been trying it and i can't really. >> you just -- >> pretty good. >> that's good. it's like looking in the mirror. >> go. ♪ >> up, back. >> he's still teaching this to new audiences. >> yeah. >> are they still into it? >> they are. i can't believe it. >> do you have a new movie coming out? >> i'm writing a movie right now. a gentleman named paul rusten and i are writing it and jeff

abertown is going to produce it. >> can you say what it's about? >> i wish i could. i'm not allowed to say what it's about yet. >> are you enjoying your time in new york? >> i just got here last night. i was in texas at "wewest by southwest. it was like being in hollywood. >> who did you see? >> you name it, everybody was there. >> next year, maybe live from austin. >> pee wee, we puniwish you luc with your hbo special. >> thank you so much for having me here. tomorrow, paula dean is co hosting. we have a lot going on, but i want to give a big, big thank

you to my host andy cohen. tonight you have kathy grfin, right? >> at 11:00 on bravo. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

go! go!

completing an atm deposit in record time... this is an nbc news special report. here is brian williams. good day. from new york. the catastrophe at japan's crippled nuclear plants, according to the experts, has become worse than three mile island did in this country. the question now at this hour, will it hold? or will it worsen and perhaps result in a catastrophic release of radiation? authorities in japan telling people to stay calm, but a fire at one of the reactors at the crippled fukushima plant did release radio act activity into the atmosphere. to make matters worse